Developing Software-based Solutions and Infrastructures for Community Resilience Assessment

Applications are now invited for those wishing to pursue a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) by thesis addressing key challenges related to information and software technology in the field of disaster resilience assessment. Resilience across all sectors of society is imperative for global efforts to reduce the adverse effects of disasters and to build a society that is change-ready and seeking opportunities for future wellbeing. Building robust pathways toward resilience begins with assessment: gathering empirical evidence of what factors enhance resilience, under what contexts, and for which shocks; benchmarking a community’s capacities, and monitoring resilience over time. The successful candidate will be invited to explore and develop solutions for critical issues in the field of resilience assessment, such as:

• How current software technologies and methods, including web-based software, social networks/media software, and/or knowledge-based systems, can be employed to make community resilience assessment a robust and co-creative process.
• How software-based solutions and infrastructures can be designed to ensure reliability, robustness, and performance while incorporating large amounts of data, different types of users, and potentially unpredicted usage scenarios for disaster resilience assessment.
• Who are the ‘end users’ in resilience assessment, what are their information needs, and what are the best ways to engage end users?

The funding for this PhD Scholarship is part of the Resilience to Nature’s Challenges research programme (RNC) – Kia manawaroa Nga¯ A¯kina o Te Ao Tu¯roa.

Notes on eligibility:

• The PhD Scholarships are open to domestic and international candidates. International PhD students are eligible to pay domestic rates if they reside in New Zealand and have a Visa which allows you to study here.
• While the particular technology focus will partially depend on the applicant’s interests and skills, it is essential for candidates to have programming and software development/engineering experience.
• Upon receipt of this scholarship, the successful applicant would be required to apply for and engage in full-time study at the University of Canterbury.
• English language proficiency (e.g. IELTS>6.5) must align with the UC English language requirements.

How to apply

Applicants should submit an email to both Dr. John Vargo and Dr. Joanne Stevenson attaching:

1. Full curriculum vitae,
2. Copies of your full tertiary level education academic transcript,
3. The contact details of two academic referees,
4. An example of your best academic written work (this can be a piece of coursework or a published journal article),
5. Link to GitHub page (or another repository), if applicable,
6. Evidence of English language proficiency if applicable (e.g. IELTS>6.5), and
7. A cover letter of no more than 1 page of A4 containing the following information:

• State why you would like to be considered for a PhD Scholarship and rationale for the selected area(s) of interest;
• Describe your development/engineering or GIS experience and expertise.