Each year the Association of Security Consultants (ASC) awards the prize, initiated and presented by Lord Imbert, for  the  development of ideas in the advancement of risk and security management.  Dissertations  presented for a first or Master’s degree at one of four universities:  Cranfield, Leicester, Loughborough and Portsmouth are eligible.  Each University puts forward one dissertation.

Anders Groenli from Oslo, who will receive his degree at the Cranfield graduation on 17 July,  beat three other hopefuls to be awarded the plaque at the Association of Security Consultants (ASC) event last week.

The ceremony at the Royal Air Force Club in London was attended by 80 senior managers from the security industry and the ASC's two patrons Lord Imbert and Lord Bethell.

Mr Groenli was given the prize for his 20,000 word dissertation which suggested new methods for cooperation between governments and businesses in connection with risk analysis and crisis management abroad.

The 32-year-old’s research involved him interviewing 40 key people in British and Norwegian governments and businesses. He found that cooperation between them was largely based on informal relations that were dependent on specific individuals. Based on his research Mr Groenli has made recommendations for how governments and businesses can use new technology and a better organisational setup to create cooperation and information sharing, and thus improving analysis of risks abroad. Mr Groenli believes this will provide a better foundation for joint use of government and business resources in crisis management abroad.  Besides the quality of the research and recommendations, the judges also commended the report as highly readable.

He said: "It is a great honour to be awarded such a prize and gain recognition for my efforts. I chose Cranfield as it is the most hands-on institution I have come across and has great links with industry."  He added “this prize is really also a testament to the quality of the GS-programme”.