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Building industry professionals with a minimum of 10 years experience can now apply to study for their doctorate in construction in a new program facilitated by the NSW Building Commissioner.
The new degree, which was developed in collaboration with the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Western Sydney University and University of Wollongong, aims primarily to lift standards in the apartment construction market.
The commissioner, David Chandler, said the Construction Industry Doctorate Program (CIDP) would support the Construct NSW reforms and support research in the state to better the sector as a whole.
“Since its inception in 2019, the Office of the Building Commissioner (OBC) has driven the need to raise standards and meet increased regulatory compliance,” Mr Chandler said.
“A large part of the continuing transformation will be changing the attitudes and practices of construction industry professionals through ongoing education.”
The program has identified 12 priority topics that will be explored over the course of the vocational PhD, including product traceability, contracts and project governance, digitisation, certification and assurance and embodied carbon.
“The aim is to refresh existing knowledge on these topics but also delve into new areas that produce ideas and expertise for the future,” Mr Chandler said.
The CIDP was initially conceived by Mr Chandler and UTS Professor of Construction Management Martin Loosemore, but it’s already been embraced by other higher education institutions in NSW.
Professor Loosemore said the CIDP represented a world-first.
“It is a unique ‘action-research PhD program’ which has been collaboratively designed to directly support Australia’s leading construction industry reform program,” Mr Loosemore said.
“It is about helping to create career expertise among future leaders and innovators of our industry. The CIDP will help bridge traditional barriers between academia and industry by ensuring that university research advances industry practice and has a real-world impact – both immediately and in the future.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Juliet Helmke
Based in Sydney, Juliet Helmke has a broad range of reporting and editorial experience across the areas of business, technology, entertainment and the arts. She was formerly Senior Editor at The New York Observer.
