Annual funding programme backs new construction research with £50,000

In its first year the Bowen Jenkins Legacy Research Fund run by the Chartered Institute of Building will support construction research projects with up to £10,000 each. 

The six winning ideas tackle themes such as sustainability in the built environment, corporate social responsibility, the application of digital technologies and employment practices in construction.  

Saleem Akram CIOB Director said: “Improvements in performance happen when there is a healthy mix of knowledge and ambition to seek new ways of working. The industry can’t stand still and has to place a great deal of importance on those who have ideas and need support in developing them. But equally we must make sure that what is learned is also shared. Which is why construction management and CIOB membership is such an important network in an industry that needs to initiate real change.” 

Established earlier this year the Fund received more than 50 applications from 12 countries. These were whittled down to the six best ideas by more than 20 assessors from industry and academia. Each research project will last between 12 to 24 months.

The Fund is a bequest from Mr. Bowen Jenkins FCIOB who was an active supporter of the CIOB and in the 1950’s he took over his father’s construction business in the Hampshire area of the UK.  The Fund is one of the CIOB’s largest donated financial legacies and supports the funding of research projects in the built environment.

The six research projects to receive funding are:-

• ‘From Corporate Social Responsibility to Occupational Health & Safety and Well-being of Construction Workers: the China Dilemma’ by Prof Dongping Fang MCIOB (Tsinghua University, China) and Dr Wilson Lu MCIOB (University of Hong Kong, China)

• ‘Long-term Sustainability of Post-disaster Housing Reconstruction Projects’ by Dr Gayan Wedawatta MCIOB (Aston University, UK) and Dr Bingunath Ingirige (University of Salford, UK) 

• ‘Cross-regional Study of Micro Construction Firms' Health and Safety Practices’ by Dr Emmanuel Aboagye-Nimo (University of Brighton, UK) and Dr Ani Raiden (Nottingham Trent University, UK)

• ‘Providing Appropriate Facilities in Not-for-profit Retirement Villages’ by Dr Bo Xia (Queensland University of Technology, Australia) and Mr Xin Hu (Queensland University of Technology, Australia) 

• ‘Data-assisted Decision Framework for London Underground Modernisation Programmes Using BIM’ by Dr Chen-Yu Chang (University College London, UK)

• ‘Breaking Down Barriers – Embedding Inclusion into Undergraduate Built Environment Programmes’ by Dr Geoffrey Cook FCIOB (University of Reading, UK) and Mrs Christina Duckett (University of Reading, UK)  

Application for the Bowen Jenkins Legacy Research Fund 2016 will open in March 2016. Details can be found at http://www.ciob.org/scholarships/bowen-jenkins-legacy-research-fund.