In many safety-critical workplaces, teams are adapting to significant technological advances accompanied by great volumes of incoming data. Such changes have the potential to improve capabilities in complex and uncertain conditions, but only if sociotechnical systems are appropriately designed. “Command and Control” (C2) is the process taken by organisations and teams to achieve shared goals, and the C2 system is the underpinning technologies, social structures, and networks. Effective C2 organisational systems are critical not only to military settings, but also to the operation of many civil domains, including emergency response coordination (e.g., disasters), remote and distributed workplaces (e.g., virtual organisations), and management of civil infrastructure and services (e.g., aviation). In C2 settings, teams of heterogeneously skilled human operators must acquire and integrate information from multiple distributed sources (e.g., physical and informational environments) to coordinate cognitively (e.g., decision-making) and behaviourally (e.g., sequencing of task executions) in complex environments characterised by uncertain and evolving threats. There is no single best strategy or approach to designing C2 systems because teams and individuals must adapt to the situational demands at hand. The capacity of teams to adapt to cope with, learn from, and exploit their operational situation is referred to as C2 Agility. However, the existing evidence underlying C2 Agility is based mainly on descriptive studies that use cross-sectional or low-resolution (i.e., broad timescale) snapshots of key inputs, processes, and outputs obtained within static networks. C2 research that better reflects the rich dynamics and complexities that occur in real-world contexts has the potential to result in major benefits for many sociotechnical systems. Therefore, the aim of this project is to develop and validate an experimental paradigm that can describe the dynamic processes underlying C2 agility and to characterise the situational factors by which C2 agility can vary.

• Future Students

• Faculty of Health Sciences
• Faculty of Science & Engineering
  • Science courses
  • Engineering courses
  • Western Australian School of Mines (WASM)

• Higher Degree by Research

• Australian Citizen
• New Zealand Citizen

• Merit Based

The successful candidate will receive a tax-free stipend of AUD 30,000 per annum, which is indexed annually for the duration of the award. The duration of the scholarship shall be for 3 years, with a maximum possible extension of up to six months (assessed on a case by case basis).

1

Doctor of Philosophy

Essential Criteria

To be successful with this scholarship, the successful applicant will have:

1. Educational qualifications in psychology, human factors, artificial intelligence, human computer interaction, or a discipline that could shed light on individual and team dynamics within the context of command and control settings; and
2. Evidence of high-quality verbal (e.g., delivering instructions to participants) and written communication skills (e.g., Honours or Masters thesis), as well as excellent interpersonal skills (e.g., working with people from diverse backgrounds).

Desirable Criteria

The following criteria are considered advantageous but not essential to be successful with this scholarship:

1. Experience with observational research (e.g., simulations) and/or lab or field experiments
2. Experience with the analysis (e.g., sequential analysis, multilevel modelling) and interpretation (e.g., conference presentation) of complex data
3. Evidence of peer-reviewed publications within the behavioural sciences
4. Work experience within Defence settings (e.g., researcher, practitioner)
5. Demonstrated capacity to work independently and as part of a multidisciplinary team to complete tasks within set timeframes and agreed budgets

Application packages should include (i) a curriculum vitae, (ii) university transcripts (uncertified is fine), (iii) the details of 2 professional referees (preferably from the past 2 years) and (iv) a statement addressing the essential and desirable selection criteria. Please submit your application by 29th April 2022 to Daniel Gucciardi (d.gucciardi@curtin.edu.au) with “Application for C2 Agility PhD scholarship” in the email subject heading.

Recipients must complete their milestone 1 within 6 month of enrolment and remain enrolled on a full time basis for the duration of the scholarship.

The PhD supervisory team will involve a composition of some of the project team listed in ‘Our People’ above. It is anticipated that the successful candidate will have enrolled into and commenced the PhD program by June 2022. Prospective applicants can obtain additional information about the project from Daniel Gucciardi (d.gucciardi@curtin.edu.au). Please include “Query re C2 Agility PhD scholarship” in the email subject heading.