Project leadership: Time-related issues in leading a temporary organisation

Summary

Projects are an important vehicle used in responding to grand challenges such as pandemics, the climate crisis and social injustice. As temporary organisations, projects present distinct challenges for leadership. Principle among those are time-related issues. These include the need to balance a short-term and a long-term view, a sense of urgency associated with a fast-approaching deadline and transience of participation in project work. We are interested in focusing on aspects of research that might address these issues.

The project management group is a vibrant group that undertakes cutting-edge research initiatives at the intersections with other disciplines. We are interested in improving the development and delivery of projects with a particular focus on complex infrastructure and megaprojects. The researchers in our group come from an interdisciplinary background and have directly interact with industry professionals and policymakers. Our group delivers a very successful suite of MSc programmes and works with a group of PhDs who contribute to enhancing our research activity.

Examples of our recent research projects

Leading community projects for sustainable innovation

Leadership: Responding to complexity

Building resilience in construction

Industry collaborations

Outputs from our work have been used by organisations such as the National Audit Office, the Nuclear Decommissioning Agency, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the European Investment Bank, the World Economic Forum and the Infrastructure and Projects Authority. We have strong links with professional project management organisations such as the Association for Project Management (APM), Project Management Institute (PMI) and the Major Project Association (MPA) and have a presence on a number of their committees and advisory groups.

Applicants to research degree programmes should normally have at least a first class or an upper second class British Bachelors Honours degree (or equivalent) in an appropriate discipline. The criteria for entry for some research degrees may be higher, for example, several faculties, also require a Masters degree. Applicants are advised to check with the relevant School prior to making an application. Applicants who are uncertain about the requirements for a particular research degree are advised to contact the School or Graduate School prior to making an application.

The minimum English language entry requirement for research postgraduate research study is an IELTS of 6.0 overall with at least 5.5 in each component (reading, writing, listening and speaking) or equivalent. The test must be dated within two years of the start date of the course in order to be valid. Some schools and faculties have a higher requirement.