CIB is pleased to announce the call for the fifth CIB Keith Hampson ECR-Industry Award 2026.
Generously endowed by Keith Hampson, CIB President from 2019 to 2022, the award encourages industry collaboration by Early Career Researchers (ECRs).
Background and Aim
The CIB Keith Hampson Early Career Researcher (ECR)–Industry Award recognises and supports innovative collaborations between emerging researchers and the built environment industry. The award is endowed by Professor Keith Hampson, whose distinguished career has been dedicated to strengthening the connection between research and industry through meaningful partnerships, including his leadership as CEO of the Sustainable Built Environment National Research Centre (SBEnrc) in Australia.
The award provides early career researchers with an opportunity to establish, develop and expand industry engagement as they progress their research careers. Applicants are invited to propose innovative initiatives that will foster new or enhanced collaboration with industry partners and create mutual value for both research and practice.
Proposals may include activities such as participation in industry events, study tours, pilot research projects, knowledge exchange initiatives, or other forms of collaborative engagement. Submissions should clearly demonstrate how the proposed activity will strengthen links between the researcher and industry, support professional development, and contribute to addressing challenges and opportunities within the built environment sector.
Early career researchers are encouraged to submit ambitious and creative proposals that have the potential to generate lasting partnerships and increase the impact of research beyond academia.
Eligibility
The competition is open to ECRs, including doctoral research students, attached to CIB through Full or Associate Members, or who are Individual Members. CIB defines ECRs as those researchers with less than 5 years’ research experience or within 5 years of obtaining a PhD or other terminal degree.
Award
The Award for the winning proposal will be a sum of up to €1,000. All funds must be utilised in the calendar year following the application and award announcement.
Previous winners
There have been 4 previous winners of the CIB Keith Hampson ECR-Industry Award.
The inaugural recipient in 2022 was Nazanin Kordestani, who was President of the CIB Student Chapter at Massey University, to further her research in ‘Work-Life Balance (WLB) of Women Professionals in the New Zealand Construction Industry and Potential Opportunities for Improvement‘.
Huey Wen Lim, a McKenzie Postdoctoral Research Fellow within the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning at the University of Melbourne received the 2023 award to further explore how work practices in prefabrication construction influence the wellbeing of the construction workforce.
The 2024 award was presented to Arghavan Akbarieh of Eindhoven University of Technology. Arghavan who is using her award to further research on creating an AI-driven serious game that supports construction professionals in ISO 19650 standards and openBIM practices.
In 2025 the recipient of the award was Samudaya Nanayakkara of Western Sydney University, who used his award to further research on AI and Large Language Model (LLM)-powered tool designed to simplify Environmental Product Declaration (EPD).
Call for Proposals
The Call for Proposals is issued in June 2026, and submissions should be a maximum of 2 pages and:
- describe in detail the activity that the individual will engage in and with which industry / industry partner(s);
- describe how the proposal demonstrates a new or strengthened collaborative link between the individual and industry;
- how the individual’s career will benefit from this activity;
- how the industry partner/s will benefit from this activity;
- the potential for the collaboration to continue;
- include a timeline for activity completion in the year; and,
- an outline budget of how the individual will utilise the €1,000 grant. Leveraging of any additional funding from industry, governmental agency, research institute, etc will be highly regarded.
The proposal must include a statement/letter from the relevant industry partner(s) certifying that the individual and the industry partner(s) agree on the activity (this letter should be treated as an appendix/addendum and does not count towards the 2-page maximum).
Closing date for proposals
Proposals for this award must be sent as a pdf file by email to secretariat@cibworld.org by October 30, 2026.
Proposal assessment
The Judging Panel, appointed by the CIB Future Leaders Committee, will assess proposals on the extent to which they are likely to contribute to the following:
- promotion of CIB and its objectives;
- stimulation and facilitation of information exchange between the researcher and industry;
- demonstrates a new or strengthened collaboration between the researcher and industry;
- the practical feasibility of the activity;
- potential for the researcher’s career to be enhanced;
- impact on industry;
- the likelihood that the collaboration between the researcher and the industry partner(s) would continue;
- likelihood that the activity described in the proposal will be completed within calendar year 2026; and,
- writing style, readability, and flow; impact; and originality and creativity.
Announcement of the winner
The winner of the CIB Keith Hampson ECR-Industry Award 2026 will be notified in late January 2027, and will be required to assist CIB in promoting their award through the various channels.
Reporting
The winner of the Award is required to report on the activity immediately after its completion, and is expected to contribute to CIB publicity of the outcome. Any dissemination of results obtained through the funded activity should acknowledge the CIB Keith Hampson ECR-Industry Award.
Further information
Please contact secretariat@cibworld.org if you have any further questions on this call.
