Dr Vedran Zerjav

Associate Professor in Infrastructure Project Management

The Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction

Faculty of the Built Environment

Joined UCL: 13th Mar 2014

Research summary

I am an organisational researcher with a focus on project-based organisational forms and delivery of urban infrastructure and technologies. I am committed to impact-driven, interdisciplinary and collaborative research. As an empirical researcher I looked at a variety of settings (aviation, rail, healthcare, water engineering, technology development) and scales of implementation (medium-sized projects to major projects and programmes). I am a qualitative researcher using single and multiple case study designs involving semi-structured interview data and other qualitative sources. I also have a keen interest in novel methodologies for project studies.

I am currently Principal Investigator of two research grants (funding by ESRC and PMI).

Ongoing projects include:

Business Innovation in Infrastructure- an exploration of value creation and capture models in infrastructure projects provision (with Dr Maria Gradillas Garcia and Prof Andy Davies).
Management of Projects and Grand Challenges- investigating the potential and limitations of project, programme and portfolio management in the context of Climate Change (with Dr Efrosyni Konstantinou, Dr Carter Casady and Dr Kate Gasparro.)
Project Bookends with Prof Andrew Edkins and Prof Michael Lewis (Theme B of 'Project X' a major research network that aims to improve major project delivery in the UK, established by nine universities in collaboration with the Infrastructure and Projects Authority).
Novel methodologies for project studies in particular with the focus on configurational comparative approaches for project impact evaluation.

Besides the above, I am involved with the wider research community contributing to conference tracks, journal special issues in the space of project studies and project management. Examples of relevant academic bodies where I am actively participating include the Project Management Journal, European Group for Organisation Studies, the Project Organising Track of the European Academy of Management and the Engineering Project Organisation Journal.

I am currently supervising three PhD students and would welcome proposals covering following empirical settings.

Major Infrastructure Delivery
Technological Innovation
Mission-driven Projects
Inter-organisational Projects
Critical Project Studies
Big science international Projects
Industrial R&D
New Venture Development

Teaching summary

I am involved in MSc level teaching on the delivery of projects and programmes and I lead the following modules:

BCPM0023- Managing Infrastructure Projects and Programmes.

BCPM0031 - Exploring Project Requirements.

BCPM0056- Project Bookends, Transition and Activation.

I am also Deputy Programme Leader for MSc Infrastructure Investment and Finance.

I supervise MSc dissertations with a qualitative research design in empirical settings of infrastructure, technology, or innovation. Examples of MSc supervision topics:

Front-end strategic decision making

Design process and its management

Delivery issues including transition to operations.

Education

University College London: Other Postgraduate qualification (including professional), ATQ03 - Recognised by the HEA as a Fellow | 2018
Technische Universitat Wien: Doctorate, Doctor of Philosophy | 2012
University of Zagreb: Other Postgraduate qualification (including professional), Diplom- Ingenieur | 2006

Biography

I am an Associate Professor of Infrastructure Project Management and former Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Future Leaders Fellow (2017-19). I have 15+ years of experience in the world of projects and their delivery through consulting, teaching and research. I am deeply committed to collaborative work with industry partners in both research and management consulting capacity. Some recent examples include TfL, Heathrow Airport, Anglian Water and the Dutch Highways and Waterways Agency.

Between 2014 and 2016, I was a UCL research associate in the International Centre for Infrastructure Futures (ICIF) - focusing on the delivery and innovative business models for the provision of public services through infrastructure assets. Prior to joining UCL, I was a part of a Dutch research and innovation programme developing infrastructure for remote, personalised and demand-driven healthcare services.

I was a Visiting Scholar at Stanford University in 2007 and 2017.

I have a PhD on 'Process- and Project-level Issues of Design Management in the Built Environment' from Vienna University of Technology (TUW) and a Diploma in Civil Engineering from the University of Zagreb in Croatia.

Publications: Show more publications