The aim of CRMP is to address the challenges arising from important shifts in the ways in which governments and firms acquire complex engineered assets and deliver on their commitments to their customers. Innovative financing methods and new forms of project coalition are challenging the role of project managers - our research aims to support them as they develop these new roles.

The management of projects as a research area has not been well represented within the leading international business schools, yet over the last ten years many organisations in the public and private sectors have been choosing to organise in project mode for all or part of their delivery on their commitments to their customers.

Research covers all the issues to do with the definition, appraisal and delivery of projects, whether in government, aerospace, electronics, energy, telecommunications, IT, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, construction or other sectors in which projects are used as a form of work organisation. While our principal focus is on asset acquisition projects, we also intend to explore interfaces with the research on the management of new product development, organisational change and research & development projects.

The broad research themes of CRMP are -

  • the dynamics of projects
  • dealing with uncertainty
  • innovation in project-based industries

This unique combination of research in the processes of managing projects (dynamics), how firms project themselves into the future (uncertainty), and the context in which this all takes place (innovation) defines CRMP as one of the leading international research centres for the management of projects.

CRMP has close links with several research groups and programme networks:

  • The Management of Projects research group within The University of Manchester's School of Mechanical Aerospace and Civil Engineering under Dr David Lowe
  • The Bartlett School of Construction and Project Management, University College London under Professor Peter Morris
  • The Tyndall Centre for Climate Change (University of East Anglia and University of Manchester)
  • The BAE Systems/EPSRC Systems Engineering programme
  • The ESRC Sustainable Technologies programme network

CRMP members are also active in the Project Management track of the European Academy of Management Conference each year, and co-organise the Making Projects Critical seminars - the next one is due to take place in 2007. A regular seminar series is held at MBS which is open to all.