Key Points
- The Cardiff Business School secured a landmark double success at the Logistics Research Network (LRN) 2026 conference.
- Rosie Cullen Targett and Dr Ruikai Sun were crowned Best MSc and Best PhD Dissertation award winners respectively.
- It is a groundbreaking feat as Cardiff Business School is the first ever university to have won both the top two awards in the 30-year history of LRN.
- Rosie Cullen Targett received the Best MSc Award for her dissertation titled ‘Renewable Energy in UK Ports: Systemic Barriers, Enabling Factors and Decarbonisation Strategies,’ supervised by Dr Sehwa Lim.
- Dr Ruikai Sun was crowned the James Cooper Cup for Best PhD Dissertation for his work titled ‘Modelling And Estimation Of In-port Ship Emissions: A Scalable Multi-Stage Data-Driven Framework’ under the supervision of Professor Andrew Potter, Professor Emrah Demir and Dr Wessam Abouarghoub.
- Notably, the PhD thesis by Dr Ruikai Sun has been published in three research papers including Transportation Research Part A – Policy and Practice.
Cardiff (Cardiff Daily) September 19, 2026 — In a landmark achievement for British academia, Cardiff Business School has secured an unprecedented double victory at the prestigious Logistics Research Network (LRN) 2026 conference. Two recent graduates from the institution’s Logistics and Operations Management (LOM) Section claimed both the master’s and doctoral top dissertation honors. Marking a historic milestone in the 30-year history of the LRN conference, it is the first time a single university has swept both principal categories in the same year.
Who Won the Major Awards at the LRN 2026 Conference?
As reported by Cardiff University on its official news portal, Rosie Cullen Targett and Dr Ruikai Sun collected their respective prizes during the milestone 30th-anniversary gathering of the LRN Forum.
Rosie Cullen Targett was awarded the Best MSc Dissertation prize for her thesis titled Renewable Energy in UK Ports: Systemic Barriers, Enabling Factors and Decarbonisation Strategies. Her research project was supervised by maritime logistics and transport expert Dr Sehwa Lim.
Meanwhile, Dr Ruikai Sun scooped the highly coveted James Cooper Cup for Best PhD Dissertation. His doctoral research, titled Modelling And Estimation Of In-port Ship Emissions: A Scalable Multi-Stage Data-Driven Framework, was supervised by Professor Andrew Potter, Professor Emrah Demir, and Dr Wessam Abouarghoub.
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What Did Academic Leaders Say About the Historic Sweep?
Expressing immense pride in the institution’s landmark double triumph, Acting Head of Cardiff Business School Professor Deborah Hann stated, as published by Cardiff University:
“This is a remarkable achievement and a hugely proud moment for Cardiff Business School. The double win by the Logistics and Operations Management Department is the first in the conference’s 30-year history that one university has achieved.”
Professor Deborah Hann further emphasized the broader mission of the department, stating:
“This achievement reflects the exceptional research and supervision community we have within at Cardiff. Our aim is not simply to produce excellent research, but to develop people who can use that research to tackle important real-world challenges.”
She added,
“Rosie and Ruikai’s work is a wonderful example of that, and I’m delighted to see them, their supervisors and the whole LOM community receiving this recognition.”
Highlighting the significance of the postgraduate research, Dr Sehwa Lim shared comments regarding the master’s achievement:
“I’m absolutely delighted to see Rosie’s work recognised with this award. Her research addressed a highly timely and important challenge for the UK port sector, offering useful insights into the transition towards decarbonisation through renewable energy adoption.”
Dr Sehwa Lim continued,
“Rosie showed great commitment and independence throughout the project. It was a genuine pleasure to supervise her, and I’m very proud to see her hard work recognised in this way.”
What is the Impact of the Winning Dissertations?
The award-winning research projects tackled critical operational and environmental issues within modern supply chains and transport networks.
Rosie Cullen Targett’s MSc thesis focused heavily on the systemic hurdles and facilitating elements surrounding the integration of renewable energy systems across United Kingdom ports, providing clear strategies for future decarbonisation efforts.
On the doctoral front, Dr Ruikai Sun’s framework for modelling and estimating in-port ship emissions has already yielded significant academic and practical footprint. According to university disclosures, Dr Sun’s doctoral framework has already generated three high-quality academic papers, including an official publication in the prominent journal Transportation Research Part A – Policy and Practice.
The Logistics and Operations Management (LOM) Section at Cardiff Business School currently comprises roughly 30 leading academics, positioning it as one of the largest specialized academic groups of its kind in the United Kingdom. The group is designed to cultivate future leaders in logistics, supply chain management, and operational frameworks.
Background of the Particular Development
The Logistics Research Network (LRN) conference is the annual flagship event hosted by the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) UK. For three decades, the LRN Forum has served as a central platform for researchers, industry practitioners, and policymakers to exchange cutting-edge applied knowledge, share sector innovations, and contribute to long-range policy planning surrounding supply chain megatrends.
The LOM Section at Cardiff University has historically maintained an active presence within the network, previously hosting the LRN conference itself. The section operates under Cardiff Business School’s broader institutional ethos—which became the world’s first business school to place “public value” at the core of its strategy. This strategic commitment prioritizes research that not only yields economic optimization but also addresses wide-ranging societal, environmental, and structural challenges, such as maritime decarbonisation and emission tracking.
How This Development Can Affect the Particular Audience
For current and prospective students, academic researchers, and professionals within the logistics, transport, and supply chain sectors, this historic double win serves as a powerful validation of rigorous, sustainability-focused academic inquiry. For students and early-career researchers at Cardiff Business School and similar institutions, the success of Dr Sun and Rosie Cullen Targett elevates the benchmark for postgraduate research, proving that student dissertations can directly influence high-impact academic discourse and practical policy changes.
Furthermore, as industries worldwide face mounting pressure to meet net-zero targets, the prominence given to research addressing UK port decarbonisation and scalable ship emission modelling signals a shifting evaluation criterion within logistics forums. Policymakers and industry practitioners looking toward academic institutions for actionable solutions will likely draw heavily on these award-winning frameworks, accelerating the integration of data-driven environmental metrics into commercial shipping and port operations.
