Case study 1 - Emily Howard
School of Arts, Histories and Cultures
PhD in Composition
Emily Howard was born in Liverpool in 1979. She spent her formative years learning the cello, playing chess (she was British Junior Girls Chess Champion for 6 years) and composing for local orchestras including The Liverpool Mozart Orchestra. Always torn between parallel interests in science and music, Emily read mathematics and computation at Lincoln College, Oxford University, where she also received guidance in composition from Robert Saxton. She went on to complete a Masters in Composition with Adam Gorb at the Royal Northern College of Music, gaining a double distinction as well as the Soroptimist International Award for Composers.
In 2004, Emily began doctoral research in Composition at The University of Manchester under the supervision of Professor John Casken. She is supported by a Victor Sayer Scholarship and has specialized in writing for large-scale acoustic ensembles and in particular for orchestras. Whilst at Manchester, commissions and performances have come from ensembles such as The BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Endymion, Ensemble 10/10, Fidelio Trio, Musica Vitae, The London Symphony Orchestra, Southbank Sinfonia and Psappha. Emily’s music has been recorded on the NMC label and there have been frequent broadcasts of her music and interviews on BBC Radio 3 and Radio 4.
In 2008, Emily was a featured composer in Liverpool’s celebrations as European Capital of Culture. Her orchestral work, Magnetite, commissioned by Liverpool European Capital of Culture 2008 for the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, opened the RLPO’s European Capital of Culture season under the baton of Principal Conductor Vasily Petrenko. About Magnetite, The Telegraph wrote: ‘it relishes orchestral colour in the way the best contemporary Nordic composers do, with ear-catching harmonies commuting between the granitic and the silvery.’Liverpool – The World in One City, a concerto for solo basset clarinet, choir and orchestra commissioned by Liverpool City Council where Emily is currently Composer in Residence, united the Liverpool Youth Orchestra with local primary school choirs (400 children) and clarinettist Mark Simpson (BBC Young Musician 2006) in a concert at the Anglican Cathedral, Liverpool, in July 2008.
Since 2005, Emily has been active in the organization of Vaganza, The University of Manchester’s New Music Ensemble. In 2007 she was elected as Assistant Director of Vaganza and in March 2009, she was the Artistic Director of Deserts and Canyons, a three-day Vaganza festival celebrating the music of John McCabe. This included performances, workshops, educations projects and seminars in the presence of the composer.
Future plans include a second orchestral commission for the RLPO, a residency at the annual Soundings Festival organized by the Austrian Cultural Forum in London and Vienna, and new works for the Black Dyke Band and Ensemble 10/10. Emily is the recipient of a £45,000 Paul Hamlyn Foundation Award for Composers 2008 – the richest prize given to composers in the UK. She teaches composition at the RNCM Junior School and the University of Leeds as well as working on Composition Outreach Projects with the Manchester Camerata. For further information about Emily please visit www.emilyhoward.com.
For further information about studying Music at the University of Manchester please visit http://www.arts.manchester.ac.uk/subjectareas/music/
Case study 2 - Andrew Cook
MSc Electrical Energy Conversion Systems
School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
As an American, people sometimes wonder why I chose to attend a UK university for postgraduate study. When I began looking for masters programs, very few if any US schools had programs similar to the Electrical Energy Conversion Systems course offered at the University of Manchester. Renewable energy has been my field of interest for years, and with an existing undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering, I felt that a Masters course combining machine control and power electronics would be an excellent way to close the gap in my understanding of electric generators and motors. More importantly I feel that this degree will greatly expand my marketability in the wind turbine and electric vehicle fields.
This is being written at the beginning of semester two, and so far my experience at Manchester has been excellent. The Electrical Energy Conversion Systems course is brand new this year, meaning that there are only seven students in the class including myself, and that the professors are very eager to both build the reputation of the program and ensure that each of us get as much as possible out of the experience.
As a mechanical engineer entering an electrical power-based postgraduate course, I was very nervous about the amount of electrical engineering-specific education I was lacking. So far all of the lectures have been extremely comprehensive, and in the few instances where I was lacking some vital background information, whichever professor was be teaching that module has gone out of his/her way to fill my in.
The MSc program is structured to have two semesters of taught work, and five months of a research dissertation. So far, every research interest voiced by a student has found a counterpart in at least one supervisor within the group. When the time comes to select a thesis project, the course will have left us with enough knowledge about the field to make an educated decision, and all the guidance and support we need to create some very interesting projects.
While the University of Manchester is an excellent school, Manchester is also an excellent city. Night life covers quite a large spectrum of entertainment options. I personally frequent a jazz club a few miles north of campus and several very cool, laid back pubs where everybody knows your name. From day one I found enough interesting things to do to keep me both entertained and under budget.
Again, my career ambitions lie mainly in electric automobile technology and its implementation. This course is on pace to equip me with every aspect of electric drive train design, from torque specifications all the way to electric power conversion and control. Having come to Manchester based on the outstanding reputation of its electrical engineering department and the course descriptions posted on the website, my decision has been justified several times over by just how well the course work fits my research interests, and the level of attention given by just about everyone that I have asked for help.
In addition to Electrical Energy Conversion Systems the school also offers MSc courses in Communication Engineering, Nanoelectronics, Advanced Control and Systems Engineering, Sensors and Electronic Instrumentation and Electrical Power Systems Engineering. For more information visit:
http://www.eee.manchester.ac.uk/postgraduate/taught/
Case study 3 - Diane Walker
Post Grad Certificate Supervision of counselling and in the helping professions
School of Education
Why did you choose to undertake postgraduate study?
Career development – I was already a qualified counsellor and was starting to offer supervision, so I wanted a good training course so I felt more confident in my supervision work.
Why did you choose this course at the University of Manchester?
The course has a reputation as being challenging but thorough and good quality training and the University of Manchester itself has an excellent reputation with employers. The course is an 18 month programme over 2 academic years. Year one was 3.5 hours taught session on a Monday afternoon and year two there are six 2.5 hour sessions (one a month October – March) and then reading and coursework in our own time.
What do you enjoy most about your course?
Meeting other students/developing my skills and confidence/gave me a theoretical model to underpin my practice/each week the taught sessions were lively and interesting/the challenge of the whole experience
What new skills have you learnt from your course?
I have learned a lot and enjoyed the course so much! I am a much more effective supervisor and the course has given me a chance to look at what areas I do well in and where I need to improve, but in a very safe and supportive learning environment.
What are you ambitions for the future, and how will your postgraduate study help you in this?
I now want to work in a post which involves more supervision and also to increase the amount of supervision I do in my private practice – I really enjoy supervising workers.
For further information see http://www.education.manchester.ac.uk/
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