Resilient Organisations PhD research programme
Christchurch
Economics of resilient infrastructure PhD research programme
Resilient Organisations (ResOrgs) is a public good research programme based in New Zealand. ResOrgs have been researching what makes organisations resilient to crises since 2004.
ResOrgs is a collaboration between top New Zealand research universities, particularly the University of Canterbury and the University of Auckland. We are funded by the Natural Hazards Platform and supported by a diverse group of industry partners and advisors.
They are a multi-disciplinary team of over 20 researchers, representing a synthesis of engineering, science and business leadership aimed at transforming organisations into those that both survive major events and thrive in the aftermath.
While most economic models are suitable for forecasting economic development under 'business-as-usual' conditions, few have the capability to model the impact of transformational 'shocks' to the economy caused by major events and infrastructure failures. A new four year research programme, the Economics of Resilient Infrastructure, will develop a Spatially Explicit Dynamic Economic Model (SEDEM), to assess the full range of economic impacts (direct, independent, cascading) associated with infrastructure failure. Current economic assessment methodologies typically assume existing structural relationships and downsizing following an event. The failure of critical infrastructure however, either in isolation or in the context of a broader community crisis, creates significant disruption to normal business dynamics. Moreover, these models do not adequately capture the extent to which disruption is mitigated by business continuity arrangements (e.g. backup generators, work from alternative premises), the availability of alternate supplier relationships (e.g. shop elsewhere or switch product types) and flexibility in business processes (e.g. defer projects or reconfigure operations).
This scholarship is for students wanting to undertake full time study towards a degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Canterbury. The student will be required to be based in Christchurch, New Zealand for the duration of their research.
ResOrgs require students to have a GPA of 7.0 (equivalent to an A- average), although normally successful applicants would have a higher GPA. We reserve the right to not award a scholarship in 2013, or to recommend applicants on to other scholarships we think they would be good candidates for.
Please complete the scholarship application form and submit it via email to [email protected]
A scholarship is available for outstanding candidates to cover tuition fees and NZ$20,000 per year for living costs, for three years.
2013-01-25