Stop Press - the first c4SMC PhD scholarships are now being advertised. Applications close on the 11th March 2018

Candidates looking to establish their future credentials as leaders in the Modern Construction era, now have the opportunity to join a dynamic team in the Centre for Smart Modern Construction - c4SMC at Western Sydney University. Four scholarships are being offered. If you are looking to be part of helping to write the book on how the modern construction industry is transforming, to evidence the industry's progress and to deliver important new insights to the university's Construction & Project Managements programs and industry, then this is a unique opportunity for the right candidates. The Centre is keen to attract researchers who have an enthusiastic interest in the knowledge themes now offered and are willing to be active members of the Centre.

These scholarships are amongst the first offered by the Centre. The c4SMC intends on establishing a widely regarded leadership in research directed to understanding and informing academia and industry about the attributes of smart modern construction. This is a seminal time for the Centre's research team to collectively define what is new research in this field and to ensure their collaborative efforts carefully match the methods they will use for the questions that need to be asked and answered.

The Centre is supported by joint industry and university investment. This involves a collaborative engagement where researchers and industry will hold roundtables several times each year to hear first hand how the Centre's research projects are progressing. Industry investors in the Centre will be keen to share their experiences where these are relevant, and to provide access to data, case studies, their projects and enterprises to ensure their investments can deliver important benefits to industry within 3 to 5-years. Intending applicants for c4SMC scholarships will immensely benefit from these experiences.

The Centre's Industry Engagement Lead, Adjunct Professor David Chandler said, "industry is looking forward to engaging with researchers at the first roundtable planned for July this year. The Centre's roundtables will adopt 'Joining Up Construction' as the basis of the conversations that will occur." The centre is keen to have researchers present their work to improve how industry and academia can improve their communication abilities to improve the quality of argument that will be needed to ensure that the Centre's modern construction research is highly acclaimed by its peers.

The Centre's Director, Professor Srinath Perera is a strong advocate of close academic and industry collaboration. He said, "the scholarships now on offer are a very exciting step for the Centre. Since the Centre's launch in late last year we have prioritised the early knowledge themes that are important to industry as they map their futures in a rapidly transforming global market place" The centre intends to provide collaborative research leadership in making the construction industry truly smart and modern.

The following four scholarships are being offered;

SCEM: Developing a Digitalised Distributed Ledger Platform for Construction Supply Chains

SCEM: Methodology for Analysing Construction Effectiveness Using Non-price Measures

SCEM: Developing Smart Modern Construction Enterprise Typologies for the 21st Century Construction Futures

SCEM: Developing an Offsite and Onsite Construction Skill and Capability Maturity Scale for SMC Projects

Please contact the Graduate Research School via email at grs.scholarships@westernsydney.edu.au for more information.

Written by:
David Chandler OAM
Adjunct Professor at Western Sydney University
17 February 2018