The Global Student Challenge final takes place in Edinburgh this year (Chris Dorney/Dreamstime.com)
The annual CIOB Global Student Challenge opened for registration at the end of last year and there are already teams signing up from all over the world.
The CIOB is seeking teams made up of full-time students studying a degree in the built environment. The winning team receives £2,000 in prize money, along with access to a mentoring programme in which industry leaders provide advice and guidance to support the winning teams’ professional development.
CIOB’s Global Student Challenge is a real test of construction industry know-how, taking place in stages over a number of months. The competition provides a realistic simulation where teams run their own construction company.
There’s a “Foundation Years” stage, in which competitors learn how to play the game, running their construction company in a simulated environment using the MERIT software, testing different strategies and refining tactics for the competitive game.
The CIOB advises that, based on performance in previous years, teams who do well in the competition are the ones who make the most of this stage.
The “Early Years” stage starts a few weeks later. The competition hots up at this point, with teams playing competitively against other teams around the world, making decisions that influence the success of their companies.
More than 60 teams entered the 2018 competition, with the six teams scoring the most in the early rounds making it to the finals which made up part of the CIOB’s Members’ Forum.
This year, both events will once again be run alongside each other, this time in Edinburgh, at the Hilton Carlton, in June. It means the finalists, as well as competing to win the Global Student Challenge title, will also be a part of the Members’ Forum and get to network with senior construction professionals from all over the world.
The competition is only open to full-time students, although there is an allowance of one postgraduate member per team. Teams are normally made up of four members, but three is permissible. Costs remain the same as last year – details can be found on the website: https://gsc.ciob.org/
Registration closes on 28 February 2019.
