URP research ranked 'above world standard'
The Urban Research Program is very pleased that the Federal Government's Excellence in Research Australia assessment produced a ranking of 4 for Griffith University in the research field coded 1205 (urban and regional planning). The ERA rank scale is bounded by 1 and 5; 5 being the highest level. Level 4 designates 'performance above world standard'. FOR 1205 includes the majority of URP research activity. Level 4 was the highest rank awarded in this field of research. URP Director Jago Dodson said: "This outcome is a clear testament to the dedicated research effort of all urban and regional planning scholars at Griffith University. Their work has been recognised as deserving high esteem."
URP Representation in EU COST Action
URP researcher and Senior Lecturer in Architecture Andrew Leach was in June confirmed as an official participant in an EU-funded Action of the Brussels-based agency European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST). The project is headed by Professor Mercedes Volait of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and the Institut National d'Histoire de l'Art (INHA, Paris) and by Professor Johan Lagae of the Department of Architecture and Urban Planning at Ghent University. Funded until 2014, researchers representing every current EU member state as well as researchers in Israel, Egypt and other key spheres of extra-continental European architectural activity will investigate the theme 'European Architecture beyond Europe'. The Action is subtitled 'Sharing Knowledge on Dissemination Processes, Historical Data and Material Legacy (19th and 20th Centuries)', thereby describing the project's ambitions to test existing tools and frameworks for understanding the extensive impact of European thinking and actors upon international developments in architecture and city planning over the last two centuries. Leach, who has written on the impact of professional Jewish Nazi-era refugees upon New Zealand architecture as well as on the broader question of the architectural historian's tools and disciplinary frameworks, was approached to lead an Australian contribution to this project. Contributing specifically to the Working Group on Actors and Networks, Leach's work on the historiography of national architectural histories and colonial-era historiography of Australia and New Zealand will inform new approaches to historical understanding of that epoch in light of the limitations of post-colonial and nationalist perspectives on that complex past. Running until 2014, the COST Action will prepare the ground for a major EU-funded research initiative.
From the URP Gold Coast
Read more >>>The Conversation
The Conversation describes itself as 'an independent source of information, analysis and commentary from the university and research sector'.Associate Professor Jago Dodson of the URP contributes to the conversation on the ecological impacts of high density residential development. ... read more>>>
Dr Wendy Steele of the URP recently contributed her thoughts on the increasing consolidation of Australian urban development into 'complex mega-metropolitan regions. ... read more>>>
2012 Urban Research Program seminar series
Seminar details for 2012 are yet to be released.
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