Postgraduate research
Introduction to MPhil/PhD programme
The MPhil and PhD programmes offer you the chance to study the built environment at a world-class centre for research. To ensure that research and scholarship continue to stretch the boundaries of knowledge generation and transformation, the relationship between you and your supervisor is crucial. Every care is taken to provide excellent supervision and guidance for each research student. As a research student you will be required to present your work to your advisory committee for direction and assistance at regular intervals.
Final awards are made to a research student who has undertaken a critical investigation in an approved topic and has demonstrated a clear understanding of the research methods appropriate to the study. As part of your PhD you will be required to produce a thesis and to defend it in an oral examination.
PhD programme
The PhD programme is 100% research based. However, students are also encouraged to take part in the University wide Graduate School Skills course and the SCME summer lecture series run through Blackboard. Supervision is provided by a supervisor and co-supervisor, thus ensuring a wealth of experience and avoiding potential challenges during absence.
A typical way of breaking down the PhD process is through seeing the 1st year as reviewing the body of knowledge and developing the specific aims, questions and proposing a method suitable to address those. The 2nd year is seen as actually 'doing' the research, the field work and some analysis. The final year is part analysis and part writing the 70,000-90,000 word thesis up for submission.
Once the candidate has been active on the programme for 12 months they should be close to submitting a transfer report. These reports are usually 12-25 pages. The report is reviewed by a selected panel from the SCME and a transfer meeting held. The transfer meeting could be viewed as a 'mini' viva, whereby the candidate is asked to defend their work to date. However, the transfer meeting is more than that and offers a chance for the candidate to describe their ideas, questions and the proposed method. Whilst the candidate is tested, advice is also offered about how the research may develop. This advice can help in further developing a robust argument essential for PhD research. Upon successful completion the candidate moves from being registered on a higher degree to a PhD degree. When ready for submission, usually in agreement with the supervisors, the thesis is submitted and a date for a Viva set. The Viva is an oral defence of the work. The examiners, who consist of 1 from the SCME and 1 from an external university with an international standing read the thesis. The Viva then takes place, offering the candidate the opportunity to defend their work and be examined by international experts in their field.
MPhil programme
This programme typically takes two years of full-time work. For more details please contact us.
University of Reading PhD Studentship
School of Construction Managment and Engineering
Supervisors: Professor Martin Sexton and Dr Graeme Larsen
Project title: Diffusing sustainable innovative procurement across a UK construction company and its subsidiary business units
Project overview:
A key aspect of sustainable innovative procurement is trying to understand how strategies and innovations are developed alongside robust business models that enable all stakeholders to develop a regular supply of future work.
This research will focus on how such sustainable innovative strategies are shared between organisational business units within a key UK construction company, structured with parent and subsidiary operations. Such innovative approaches are deeply embedded within their localised market sector or business units, meaning they cannot simply be installed into another part of the company. Central to the research is improving our understanding of the challenges and implications of adopting innovative practices from a different contextual setting. This will lead to the opportunity to improve exactly how sustainable innovative strategies can be diffused between the head parent company and its subsidiary business units (and vice versa). This is an exciting opportunity as challenges are now recognised by policy-makers, practitioners and academics alike, yet there is currently a dearth of research into the topic. It is proposed that the research will draw on themes from innovation diffusion, competitive strategy, parent company/subsidiary firm relationships and the localised learning/embeddedness.
Theoretical lenses will be mobilised to generate a framework to improve how sustainable innovative procurement strategies are diffused across organisational business units and thus offer direct benefit to the industrial collaborator. For an informal chat regarding these opportunities please contact either: g.d.larsen@reading.ac.uk or m.g.sexton@reading.ac.uk
Funding Details: Studentship will cover Home/EU Fees and pay the Research Council minimum stipend (£13,590 for 2010/11) per year for a period of up to 3 years.
Eligibility: Applicants should hold a minimum of a UK Honours Degree at 2:1 level or equivalent in a suitable management or built environment field, with ideally a relevant MSc qualification. Please note that due to restrictions on the funding, this studentship is for UK/EU applicants only.
How to apply: Eligible candidates should complete a University of Reading postgraduate application form available from http://www.reading.ac.uk/Study/apply/pg-applicationform.aspx . This should be submitted with supporting documents either to scipg@rdg.ac.uk or to:
Postgraduate Office
Joint Faculty Office for Science and Life Sciences
Geography Building
University of Reading
PO Box 227
Reading, RG6 6AB
Application Deadline: 21 April 2012