Cranfield University is one of the top five research-intensive universities in the UK. As a wholly postgraduate university, specialising in science, technology, health, security and management, it is different to other higher education institutes in the UK. Positioned between traditional universities and business and industry, Cranfield combines the academic rigour and long-term perspective of a university with the commercial and business focus of industry. The university operates on two campuses in the UK, Cranfield and Shrivenham, and since 2007 has had a presence in Australia at the International University Precinct in Adelaide.

The university has five schools: Applied Science, Management, Engineering, Health, and Defence and Security. The Cranfield School of Defence and Security has a long-term partnership with the British Government for the provision of education, training and research to the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom.

The Resilience Centre at Cranfield University was established in 2004 with the aim of improving the capacity of organisations and societies to respond to disruptive challenges and crises through academic research and the provision of relevant education, training and operational support. The Centre’s masters degrees and its short, applied training courses, focus on analysis but also on practical assistance for those engaged in emergency operations and capacity-building programs in security, emergency and disaster management.

The Centre is home to the internationally acclaimed Cranfield Mine Action group which in 2007 won the prestigious Queens’ Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education in recognition of its work in developing national mine action management capacities in post-conflict countries affected by mines and unexploded ordnance. The Centre is also home to the Disasters and Emergencies group which works with the emergency services and humanitarian agencies throughout the UK and abroad.

The staff of the Resilience Centre at Cranfield University include academics and senior experienced officials who formerly worked for the United Nations, the emergency services, armed forces, humanitarian organisations and other agencies. The Centre is based at the Shrivenham campus and draws on all five of the university’s schools, including such capabilities as postgraduate programs in water and society which are particularly relevant to the water management challenges facing Australia and the countries of South East Asia and the Pacific Rim.