ARRB Group & Roads Australia Student Transport Research Prize Scheme

Background and requirements

ARRB Group (formerly the Australian Road Research Board) and Roads Australia have joined forces to establish a prize scheme for research conducted by students at Australian and New Zealand Universities. The prize scheme is aimed at identifying and recognising talented young researchers. Any under-or post-graduate student conducting research into any aspect of road transportation, including infrastructure, is eligible to enter. Group entries are not eligible.
 
To enter, students must complete:
the application form, in MSWord format (use Appendix A)
a succinct letter to a fictitious road agency Chief Executive, aimed at interesting them in the  research findings and their potential applicability in assisting the agency to achieve its goals (‘elevator pitch’)
 
The above must be submitted through the University’s research office to studentprizes@arrb.com.au
 
Entries will be judged on a regional basis, depending on location of the university campus attended.  The regions in which the entries will be judged are:

• NSW and ACT
• Queensland and NT
• Western Australia and South Australia
• Victoria and Tasmania
• New Zealand

Judging and prizes

Regional prizes
The entries will be judged by a panel comprising ARRB staff and senior practitioners from road agencies and industry, in accordance with the weightings indicated on the application form. The letter to agency Chief Executives will be used as a first filter in the judging process. The closing date for the 2014 prize applications is April 30 2014. The winner in each region will receive $2,500 along with a certificate. The prizes will be awarded at an appropriate Roads Australia event in the relevant region in August 2014.
 
National prize
The winners from each region will be eligible for the National Prize, which will comprise a further $2,500, a certificate, and a medal. The winners will be notified of their success in the regional prize scheme in June 2014 and invited to submit an article in order to be considered for the national prize. This article, which can be based on any aspect of the research, must be between 2,500 and 5,000 words long and suitable for submission to a peer-reviewed journal. The student must be first author. The closing date for submission of the articles is August 10 2014.
 
Articles previously written and submitted or accepted for publication are acceptable, as the scheme is identifying talented individuals and not trying to identify the ‘best’ research project. An honours student could, therefore, submit an article based on research conducted during their undergraduate studies.
The award for the National Prize will be adjudicated by a panel drawn from ARRB, BITRE and research experts from outside the transport field. The prize will be awarded at a high profile Roads Australia event in November or December 2014.

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