Quake-related research scholarships offered

29 September 2011

UC is offering six new PhD scholarships in 2012 specifically for earthquake-related research.

The University of Canterbury Earthquake-Recovery Doctoral Scholarships are worth $20,000 plus tuition fees waiver each year for three years.

Twenty-five UC academics submitted proposed project outlines from which the final six were chosen.

Assistant Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Steve Weaver said the University originally intended to offer five scholarships but increased the number to six because of the overall quality of the proposed research projects.

“We are very grateful to Roger Sutton, CEO of the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA), who assisted in the selection process.”

The successful projects are:

"Collaborative approaches to the recovery of organisations post-disaster" – supervisors Dr John Vargo (Accounting and Information Systems) and Dr Erica Seville (Resilient Organisations);
"Seismic response of liquefiable soils in Christchurch and mitigation using ground improvement technologies" – supervisors Dr Brendon Bradley and Associate Professor Misko Cubrinovski (Civil and Natural Resource Engineering);
"Development of loss optimisation seismic design" – supervisor Associate Professor Rajesh Dhakal (Civil and Natural Resource Engineering);
"The contribution of community-based learning to post-disaster recovery in Christchurch" – supervisors Professor Eric Pawson (Geography) and Dr Billy O'Steen (Educational Studies and Human Development);
"Science and operational response partnerships after the Canterbury earthquakes: a model facilitating research and operational collaboration" – supervisors Dr Tom Wilson (Geological Sciences), Professor Lucy Johnston (Deputy Vice-Chancellor’s Office), Professor Tim Davies (Geological Sciences), Associate Professor David Johnston (Joint Centre for Disaster Management, Massey University) and Dr Richard Smith (Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management);
"The Earthquake Recovery Act 2011: unbridled power for five years or balanced legislation" – supervisor Professor Elizabeth Toomey (Law).

Students have until 11 November to apply for a scholarship. Application forms are available from UC’s Scholarship Office (www.canterbury.ac.nz/scholarships).

For more information please contact:
comms@canterbury.ac.nz.