Careers

ICMP Research Centre: invitation to tender  - Project Brief

Overview 

The Institute of Contemporary Music Performance is looking to commission a scoping report designed to inform its decision-making process relating to developing a research centre and specialisms of activity. Specifically, we are looking to: 
Understand the current trends in research, knowledge exchange and associated funding opportunities pertaining to music and its sub-disciplines;  
Develop awareness of where ICMP may forge productive partnerships with industry and research organisations for potential collaborative project development and funding applications;  
Identify areas of potential specialism across ICMP faculty.  

Institutional Context 

The Institute of Contemporary Music Performance (ICMP) is London's leading music industry education provider and has been developing and delivering contemporary music education for over 30 years – longer than any other music school in the UK. 
Founded in 1986, ICMP was originally known as The Guitar Institute and Basstech, but soon expanded to offer courses in drums, vocals and other instruments; songwriting; music business and music production. We pride ourselves on our small class sizes, 121 tuition, high number of teaching contact hours, personalised approach to student engagement, regular one-to-one support, and dynamic use of technology in the classroom – innovations you just won’t find to the same extent at any other modern music college. 
The ICMP was the first Music School in London to offer full-time music degrees for students of contemporary music, and we pioneered the teaching methods, curriculum structure and philosophy that have become the benchmark for contemporary music education.  ICMP currently offers a portfolio of higher education programmes that reach c.1000 students studying across six undergraduate programmes and three postgraduate programmes. ICMP also hosts a suite of non-accredited short courses in songwriting, production and other associated music topics. Additionally, we run an expanding programme of community, schools and young people’s engagement, which has produced nearly 500 workshops or site visits in the past 2 years.  
 

Project Background 

ICMP has been developing its Research, Scholarly and Professional Practice (RSPP) activity under the oversight of the RSPP committee. This committee has responsibility for the implementation of the associate strategy: RSPP Strategy 2019-22. Key objectives of this strategy are to explore the potential specialisms of RSPP across the faculty and to consider developing a research centre (virtual or physical or hybrid) to house this activity. Importantly, the development of RSPP is intended to inform, enhance and underpin curriculum and pedagogy so should be related to areas of popular and contemporary music including performance and creative practice, songwriting, music production, and music business. There is significant interest across faculty in the role of music in well-being, practice as/based research, and potential for knowledge exchange through industry engagement.    
 

Project Vision and Mission 

We want RSPP activity to be an integrated and embedded part of ICMP faculty activity and as such want to ensure we are making decisions about future developments that are both relevant to the wider higher education sector, the creative industries, and the interests of faculty. We are also committed to improving our relationship with other research organisations and to engage more fully with projects and activity where we might usefully contribute to knowledge creation and dissemination within the arts.  

Purpose and aim of the project 

This project aims to provide evidence for future decision making relating to developing faculty specialisms, engaging and collaborating with other organisations for the purposes of RSPP, and to propose the focus and structure of a potential ICMP research centre.    

Research objectives and Information needs 
 
The project is focused on understanding three specific questions: 

• What are the current trends in research activity, including funding and knowledge exchange, relevant to music and its sub-disciplines? Are there any anticipated changes to these trends? 
• What are the key areas of potential specialism within ICMP and how might we best support development?  
•  What models of research centre design might be most desirable for an HEI such as ICMP? 

Outputs 

The project is expected to produce the following outputs:  

• Report responding to the key questions articulated above; 
• Recommendations for consideration by the RSPP committee.  

Reporting Requirements 

ICMP will require a written report as the main output from this project. The report must be clear, manageable and user-friendly. The report will be presented to the RSPP Committee. It will be presented to other institutional committees and Boards as required by ICMP. The project should be conducted according to ICMP’s ethical clearance requirements.  

The main volume of the report should be submitted as a single document to the Associate Dean (Academic Development) by the agreed deadline. The report should be provided in both Word and PDF formats.  

Copyright for the report should be assigned to ICMP for the sole purpose of contributing to the marketing and audience development work and for use in funding / fundraising applications. Any other use will be subject to negotiation with the consultant. 

Timescale 

We have assigned 2 months for the duration of this project. It should commence by June 2021. 

Budget 

This project is being funded by directly by ICMP as part of its on-going investment in Research, Scholarly and Professional Practice activity. A sum of up to £2,500 (inclusive of VAT) has been awarded to cover the project fee, which includes research, planning, meetings, travel, mailings, stationery and other materials and resources as required. Proposals should itemise daily or hourly rates and demonstrate how many days or hours each consultant / researcher will spend on the project. 

Proposals 

The closing date for proposals is 10th May 2021. We welcome submissions from all suitably qualified and experienced research associates, and we would especially welcome proposals by BAME or disabled individuals.  

Respondents are asked to outline: 

• Their proposed methodology, ethical and equality consideration, budget and timetable; 
• Their relevant skills and experience; 
• Confirmation of the right to work in the UK (eligibility will be checked upon successful appointment); 
• The details of two references. 

Proposals should be emailed to the Associate Dean (Academic Development) at the email address detailed below by the deadline.  

Contact Name and Number 

If you would like to discuss this brief before submitting a proposal, please contact Professor Louise Jackson, Associate Dean (Academic Development) on the contact details below. If contacting by email, please use the subject line ICMP Research Centre Tender. 

Professor Louise Jackson - Associate Dean (Academic Development) e-mail: louise.jackson@icmp.ac.uk 

The Institute of Contemporary Music Performance 
1B Dyne Road, London NW6 7XG 

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