Best Paper Prizes
Each year ARCOM awards a number of sponsored prizes for best papers. This is an important recognition of the hard work the delegates have put into conducting much interesting research and developing the papers that publish those efforts. The awards all enjoy a £250 prize (or equivalent) together with the certificate that honours the award.
ARCOM has a number of commemorative awards we give annually on surveying/project management (Paul Townsend Commemorative Award), innovation (Rod Howes Commemorative Award) and social impact/significance (David Langford Commemorative Award). The past members of our community ARCOM commemorates each made a significant contribution to the field.
Paul Townsend was a strong supporter of ARCOM and an industry representative on the ARCOM committee for many years. He became an academic at Sheffield Hallam later in his career. The ARCOM award was instituted to celebrate his contribution following his untimely death.
Rob Howes is one of the founders of ARCOM and our first chairman, a charming and eloquent man, who was one of the key members in our community for many years.
David Langford, ARCOM’s Honorary Life President, sadly passed away in 2010. He led many of the ARCOM’s activities especially in the 1980s and 1990s.
The professional institutions (CIOB and RICS) and publishers associated with ARCOM (Wiley Blackwell, Taylor and Francis and Emerald) also award prizes at the conference. Themes for these prizes include the best international paper, innovation and sustainability, best technical paper, best theoretically informed contribution, and research methodology.
Click on the links below to view the prize winners for each year.
- 2024
- 2023
- 2022
- 2021
- 2020
- 2019
- 2018
- 2017
- 2016
- 2015
- 2014
- 2013
- 2012
Rod Howes Award
Rod Howes was one of the founding members and the first Chair of ARCOM. He was always an advocate for advancing innovation through research. Therefore, the Rod Howes Award is given to the best paper on advancing innovation in construction management research.
Mattias Jacobsson and Henrik Linderoth – “The challenges of trying something new: On (in)congruence and (in)consistency of digital frames in a Swedish railway infrastructure case”
David Langford Award
David Langford was the first and only honorary life president of ARCOM. Dave always undertook and promoted research that had a strong link with the people side of construction. The David Langford Award is therefore given to the best paper that deals with societal issues, and is often awarded to a promising early-career researcher.
Anna E. Piña, Shu-Ling Lu and Florence T. T. Phua – “Does it matter that people don't expect to 'see' me in this role?”
Paul Townsend Award
Paul Townsend was a strong supporter of ARCOM and an industry representative on the ARCOM committee for many years. The Paul Townsend Award is given to the best paper that contributes fresh insights into the practice of project management.
Mirko Pap, Lynn Vosman and Leentje Volker – “The implications of programmatic tenders on the bid/no-bid decisions of contractors”
Chair's Award
The Chair's Award is given to the best paper related to the conference theme: 'Constructing the Future'.
Vasil Atanasov, David John Greenwood, Tinashe Masvimbo Madebwe and Rebecca Cox – “Time, cost and quality performance of modern methods of construction in a live research project”
CIOB Award
ARCOM has grown in its engagement with scholars from outside the UK. The CIOB Award is given to the best international paper.
Wilco Jonker, Léon olde Scholtenhuis and André Dorée – “Caught in the vicious circle of improvisation: How district heating construction teams cope with Reliability”
Emerald Award
The Emerald Award has traditionally been given to the best methodology paper.
Yingshuang Shi and William Collinge – “Measuring social value in rail infrastructure projects: A system dynamic approach”
Taylor and Francis Award
The Taylor and Francis Award has traditionally been given to the most theoretically-informed paper.
Bekzat Musrepova, Thomas Biedenbach and Mattias Jacobsson – “Orchestrators, ambassadors and brokers: Understanding informal roles for the enabling of digital ambidexterity in construction firms”
Wiley-Blackwell Award
The Wiley-Blackwell Award is given to the best paper relating to technology.
Kingford Mkandawire, Shabnam Kabiri and John Connaughton – “Knowledge transaction in between offsite and onsite interfaces”