Our Research

Welcome to Research at the School of Construction Economics and Management

Welcome to the School of Construction Economics and Management (CEM) at the University of the Witwatersrand. Research at CEM is centred on advancing knowledge and addressing complex challenges facing the construction, project management, quantity surveying, property, real estate and wider built environment sectors. As the Postgraduate Research Coordinator responsible for our PhD and MSc by Research programmes, I am pleased to welcome you to our postgraduate research community.

Our research spans established and emerging areas of scholarship, with increasing attention to innovation, artificial intelligence (AI), digital transformation, Building Information Modelling (BIM), data-driven decision making, sustainable and net-zero development, smart and resilient infrastructure, construction business and internationalisation, property technology, and the future of cities. We are particularly interested in research that responds to contemporary industry and societal challenges while contributing original and theoretically grounded knowledge to the discipline.

A research degree at CEM provides an intellectually rigorous environment in which candidates work alongside experienced academics, including NRF rated researchers and professors, while developing the critical thinking, methodological competence and intellectual independence required to make an original contribution to knowledge. Candidates are encouraged to engage with diverse theoretical and methodological perspectives through research seminars, postgraduate forums and scholarly activities. Opportunities for collaboration with local and international researchers, dissemination of research through national and international conferences, and engagement with academic and professional networks further support the development of a broader scholarly identity. This environment enables candidates to critically engage with contemporary debates, strengthen their research, and connect academic inquiry with challenges and developments in professional practice.

We recognise that successful research requires a supportive research environment. Candidates have access to University and School research resources, including library and research support, research training, ethics guidance and postgraduate research activities, as well as, where available, opportunities for funding, teaching and research assistantships, and industry engagement.

We encourage prospective researchers to identify important questions rather than simply familiar topics, with a focus on questions that can generate new knowledge, challenge existing thinking, inform practice or policy, and contribute to the future development of the built environment.

I look forward to welcoming you to one of our research courses in the school. Should you have other questions about the courses or process, please visit our school website on http://www.wits.ac.za/study-at-wits/ or send an email to the school’s Postgraduate Officer, Mr Stephen Mongwe on stephen.mongwe@wits.ac.za

Wish you every success in your research journey,

Dr Pride Ndlovu
Postgraduate Research Coordinator: PhD and MSc by Research
School of Construction Economics and Management
University of the Witwatersrand

We engage extensively with a wide range of firms and industrial partners including the following organisations and government departments.

• Major and emerging contractors
• Association of South African Quantity Surveyors (ASAQS)
• National Treasury
• Consulting Engineers South Africa (CESA)
• Vela VKE
• Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB)
• Bowman Gilfillan
• GIBB Engineering
• Wits University Capital Projects Department
• Major procurers of construction work in South Africa

Current research of School staff is focused around the following areas

• Contractor Development
• Corporate Governance and Executive Compensation in Real Estate Firms
• Corporate Real Estate
• Digital technologies and automation in construction
• Education and training
• Facility management
• Gender in the Built Environment
• Housing market regeneration and renewal
• Innovative Procurement Systems
• Knowledge and technology transfer
• PPP, Mega Projects and Public involvement in construction projects
• Procurement and commercial relationships in contracts
• Project Management Practice
• Project risk management
• Real Estate Finance and Securitisation
• Real Estate Investment in Emerging Markets
• Reward Management in the Real Estate Sector
• Safety and Health in the Built Environment
• Sustainability in the built environment