BRANZ Group allocates funds to assist students with outstanding academic credentials to research in fields that are deemed to be of importance to the construction sector.

The list of preferred areas of expertise to be funded is revised at regular intervals. The following list of topics is not exclusive, and proposals to address other topics are welcome, especially if they align well to the New Zealand Construction Industry Council research agenda or to BRANZ 2010 Research and Information Agenda. If you have a very good academic record and a project you think will be of value to our sector, please enquire whether you are eligible.

Current priority areas

Removing barriers to innovation adoption
To provide an equivalent New Zealand study to the chapters for the 15 other countries reviewed in A Manseau and G Seaden (eds) ‘Innovation in construction: an international review of public policies'. Spon, London, 2001.

Site practices
To identify the extent to which construction site safety practices promulgated by organisations like Site Safe are being implemented, and to identify reason(s) for any shortfall between policy and practice.

Water conservation
Balancing water efficiency with health issues, especially with relation to use of rainwater.

Modern manufacturing methods
Issues in integrating prefabricated elements to buildings.

Industry workforce needs projections
A study of the numbers of people with different skills that the building and construction sector is likely to need in 2020.

Other business issues in the sector
Projects that specifically address business issues in the sector as part of business degrees. There is no specific theme sought - there is so little good research in these areas that is publicly available that most topics are of interest.

Usually only one project addressing a topic will be funded at any one time. We will make a selection between students if this becomes necessary.

General guidelines

Preference will be given to shorter courses over longer ones. Except in exceptional circumstances:

• No funding to an individual student for a course will exceed three years.
• The research will be carried out in a New Zealand tertiary institution.

Award recipients will usually be required to liaise with BRANZ Group and meet reasonable technology transfer requests about their work. Applicants should be careful before seeking BRANZ investment that they will be able to meet the expectations of wide transfer to the building and construction sector of the results of their research.

A scholarship awarded under this scheme carries no connotation of employment by BRANZ Group during the period of the award or at its conclusion. On rare occasions, it may be possible for BRANZ to host the research student and provide co-supervision, but this needs to be addressed on a case-by-case basis.

The Foundation for Research, Science and Technology offers Technology Industry Fellowships. Allocations at Masters and PhD level will generally follow those available for these Fellowships, which FRST shows as:
Masterate - $20,000 for degree.
Doctorate - $25,000 per year for up to three years.

BRANZ Group also operates some schemes for final-year undergraduate research projects. These are limited in scope and variable in payment. Prospective applicants should discuss their ideas with their course supervisor first, and the arrangement will be more likely to be with the tertiary organisation than with the student directly.

How to apply

Send to the BRANZ Group Chief Executive a report including the following:

• Your CV, including details of undergraduate (and/or graduate) course grades, the name and structure of the course that you wish to follow, and the name of the tertiary institution at which you plan to be enrolled.
• The name of the research supervisor and a note from him/her endorsing your proposal as appropriate (we will not make a final decision until we have this).
• A comment on how you believe the work will assist your career aspirations.
• An explanation of how the research will (assuming it is successful) assist the New Zealand building and construction sector.
• A description of the intended research project in sufficient detail to allow assessment of it by BRANZ staff.

If your application is successful, you will also be required to submit a project plan indicating proposed milestones at which payments will be made, which must be agreed by BRANZ before the first payment is made. Progress against this plan will need to be certified by your supervisor.

There are no specific closing dates for submissions for consideration by BRANZ, but candidates should ensure there is a month available to BRANZ for consideration before any closing date set by any co-funding agency (such as FRST).

For further information, contact branz@branz.co.nz.