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Scholarships in water studies/ research

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Real-life Enterprise Resilience in International Water Utilities - PhD Studentship

17 Oct 2017
Offered by: Cranfield University
Scholarship funds: PhD program

Scholarship description

An exciting three year fully funded PhD studentship at Cranfield University investigating real-life enterprise resilience in the water utility sector, funded by the Water Research Foundation and 11 international water utilities.

The long term goal of this research, funded by Water Research Foundation and 11 international water utilities, is to further improve the maturity of the water utility sector’s capabilities in risk governance so they can become more resilient enterprises. A principal motivation is the need to maintain the confidence of stakeholders in utilities’ capacity to manage the substantive changes they face; in the short-, mid- and long-term by building genuine organisational resilience to the challenges ahead in the sector. The demonstrable management of risk and opportunity - expressed by a pragmatic and positive organisational commitment to risk management across the portfolio of risks that a utility faces - has become a key requirement of responsible utility management. In addition to this, in recognition of climate adaptation, infrastructure and financial challenges, utilities now find themselves needing to demonstrate resilience across their enterprise. This represents an organisational capability beyond just good risk management. This project will therefore explain what is required and how enterprise resilience can be achieved in practice.

The desire for resilient water utilities has fast become a keystone of utility governance. In 2016, a consortium of influential US bodies with strategic interests in utility governance published its ten attributes of effective utility management in: “Taking the Next Step: Findings of the Effective Utility Management Review Steering Group”. These included a call for “enterprise resiliency”, a utility-wide, strategic approach to organisational resilience, such that utility leaders and staff work together internally, and with external partners, to anticipate, respond to, and avoid problems; and that they proactively identify, assess, establish tolerance levels for, and effectively manage a full range of business risks (including interdependencies with other services and utilities, legal, regulatory, financial, environmental, safety, physical and cyber security, knowledge loss, and natural disaster-related) in a proactive way, consistent with industry trends and system reliability goals (Effective Utility Management Review Steering Group, 2016). Working in collaboration with international water utilities, this PhD Studentship will inform this renewed call for enterprise resiliency.

Aims

Utilities rely on the Water Research Foundation and others to translate scientific concepts into useable tools in practical formats that make a difference. There is no practice-led resource for water utility managers to respond to regulatory calls for improved resiliency. This PhD will provide such a resource and, specifically:

proactively identify, assesses and establish tolerance levels for a full range of business risks;
develop these as they relate to interdependencies with other services and utilities, legal, regulatory, financial, environmental, safety, physical and cyber security, knowledge loss, and natural disaster-related; and
do so in a proactive way, consistent with industry trends and system reliability goals.

The studentship provides a unique opportunity to work with 11 international water utilities and we are seeking a highly motivated candidate with an interest and aptitude for interdisciplinary research, particularly resilience, risk governance, decision-making, policy and social sciences. The candidate will be a member of the Cranfield Doctoral Network and will receive excellent support in terms of training and mentoring.

Scholarship location:UK

More information (external link to the scholarship website)

Source: CRANFIELD.AC.UK

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