Doctoral Conference on Project Management
On 21st May 2024 the Leeds Centre for Projects hosted the first joint Doctoral Conference on Project Management together with the Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction, University College London and the Department of Engineering Management, University of Manchester. Over 50 delegates comprising of PhD researchers, supervisors and staff attended the full day.
We teamed up to give doctoral researchers the opportunity to share their work in a safe and developmental environment. It allows them to practice to succinctly explain and justify their work, and to position their work within the wider conversations taking place in the field of project management.
Across three parallel streams, 25 doctoral researchers shared their work and actively engaged in discussions. They were encouraged to listen with intent to presentations to develop their skills in critiquing others' work and creating an engaging environment. Additionally, 10 research posters were exhibited which sparked further conversations.
I loved seeing all the innovative ideas from my fellow PhD students. The feedback on my research was invaluable, providing me with new directions to explore. And, of course, the informal chats were the best part—sharing struggles, advice, and motivation with such a supportive community. (Andrea Gonzales, PhD Researchers UCL)
Prof Martina Huemann, Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Project Management and Professor at UCL, contributed an excellent keynote on how to get doctoral research published. It uncovered the black box of publishing by outlining the process and the different roles involved as well as the criteria for decision making. She also highlighted the importance of journal fit and understanding what journals are looking for.
We would also like to congratulate the winners of the awards for the conference. We had a draw in the category for Best Presentation Award and have therefore two winners:
- Sara Coleman (UoM) with her work entitled "Was it all worth it? Exploring ex-post project benefits realisation in UK Government Major Projects"
- Mohammed Al Barrami (LCP) with his work entitled "A Holistic Framework for the Adoption of Building Information Modelling (BIM) in Oman"
We also particularly encourage innovative thinking in terms of topics or methods and the Most Innovative Research Award went to Israel Mariaca Clavel (UCL) for his work entitled "Enhancing 4D BIM with Serious Game integration: towards playful and dynamic construction scheduling".
We are already looking forward to next year's conference which will be hosted by the Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction, UCL.
Thank you to all delegates and the organising committee for making this a such successful event!
Organising committee:
Professor Christine Unterhitzenberger and Dr Rodrigo Juarez, Leeds Centre for Projects
Dr Francesco di Maddaloni and Dr Roya Derakhshanalavijeh, Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction, UCL
Dr Jillian Yeow and Dr Richard Kirkham, Department of Engineering Management, University of Manchester