The Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre is a $100M, seven year national effort to deal with the social, economic, and environmental impacts of bushfires (www.bushfirecrc.com). The CRC invites application of full-time PhD Scholarships in the School of Psychological Science, La Trobe University. These provide stipends of $25,000 p.a. For holders of other awards, such as APAs, top-up Scholarships of $9,000 p.a. are available.

The following two Bushfire CRC research projects in the School of Psychological Science may be of interest to graduates of Psychology, Sociology, Health Science, Administrative Science, or related disciplines:

Do Teams That Have Worked Together Make Better Decisions?
Fires extending over several days are typically managed by highly structured Incident Management Teams (IMTs) whose members may (or may not) be made up of officers who have worked together on previous IMTs. The actual impact on decision making of having teams whose members have a history of working together is unknown, although it has been suggested that issues relating to trust and confidence in others may be important factors. The project would investigate differences between pre-formed versus ad-hoc teams of experienced firefighters in their attempts to exercise control over computer-simulation fire scenarios. Participants will include both volunteer and career firefighters and the research findings can be expected to have both theoretical and practical significance internationally.
Contact Prof. Geoff Cumming: g.cumming@latrobe.edu.au (03) 9479 2820

Recruiting Volunteer Firefighters from Non English Speaking Backgrounds
In some Australian and New Zealand communities the number of volunteers coming from non English speaking backgrounds (NESB) is disproportionately low. The project would investigate factors impacting on the motivations of persons from NESB to become and to remain active in volunteer fire brigades. One of the outcomes of the project would be recommendations to volunteer-based fire agencies about how they could enhance their recruitment and retention of volunteers from NESB.
Contact Dr. Jim McLennan: j.mclennan@latrobe.edu.au (03) 9479 2420

Eligibility: Applicants must be Australian citizens or permanent residents who have (or expect to receive) a First Class Honours degree (or equivalent) in a relevant field. Applications must be submitted to the La Trobe University Research & Graduate Studies Office by 31 October 2006. Before applying, please contact one of the researchers named above.