Our Research Clusters

The Institute supports the following cross-disciplinary research clusters:

In partnership with Humanities Research Institute:

Funding for Research

Through the annual Pioneer Awards and other funding opportunities, we provide seed-corn funding for blue-skies creative arts practice projects initiated by both staff and PhD students from across the University.  These awards sometimes act as ‘match-funding’– helping colleagues for example secure Arts Council England or other funding.  

Institute supported projects can be found here: Current Projects and Past Projects.

Wider Collaborations

We also work closely with our sister Faculty Research Institutes - Humanities and Social Sciences and support several joint research initiatives. For example, with Humanities we support the Performance Research Network, the Centre for Heritage and MATCH (Materiality, Artefacts & Technologies in Culture & History)

Collectively the three Institutes support the cross-university Methods@Newcastle hub and contribute to initiatives relating to Anti-Racism, and Research Culture within the University.

Our Partners

As well as facilitating dialogue between creative arts practitioners, and between practitioners and other disciplines internally, much of Newcastle University’s creative activity is outward facing and is concerned, in multiple ways, with places and people. Much of it is international in its reach. A significant proportion of our creative activity is therefore collaborative and co-produced and is often conducted with our partners - external arts and other organisations – thereby exchanging knowledge and expertise and remaining connected.

We have particularly strong relationships with:            

The Institute is also a member of the European Society for Artistic Research (SAR) and The Council for Higher Education in Art & Design (CHEAD).

The Institute’s work on campus

Prof Richard Talbot chairs the University’s Culture Campus Committee, which is reviewing ‘Representation on Campus’, temporary art works and safe spaces on the University’s Newcastle campus. The Institute supports numerous cultural events, including the Newcastle Poetry Festival and NUSU’s Festival of Cultures. All of the above activities are broadcast via Social Media and archived on our website.

Core Team

The Institute’s core team are Prof Richard Talbot, Mel Whewell and Mel Robson. If you'd like to know more about anything that we do, please get in touch.