Oxford Brookes University has announced that several high profile public and private sector organisations - including English Partnerships and Mace - have signed up to support some of their employees during the launch year of the MSc Project Management in the Built Environment.

As the first MSc of its kind, the course is proving popular on a national and international level, with candidates registered from Sri Lanka, India and Ghana, as well as the UK. Willmott Dixon, Cyrilsweett, Gleeds, Vale of Glamorgan Council, Stewart Milne Timber System and Witney have also registered interest in supporting students for the 2007 course.

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The motivation behind Oxford Brookes' new MSc is to produce multi-disciplinary project managers who can oversee the entire life cycle of large-scale developments. As such, the course covers a range of 'soft skills' - such as human behaviour, leadership styles and organisational culture - in addition to more traditional modules on finance or law. Many of these programmes present an opportunity for the study of processes within the affiliated organisations, as well as using large-scale developments such as Wembley Stadium as case studies.

Programme Leader, Dr Esra Kurul, commented: "For many years, organisations within the built environment industry have operated in silos, with little understanding of how the many elements that make up a successful development hang together. This has led to a fragmented approach that directly impacts on the long-term viability of a development.

"However, the climate is changing and an increased understanding of the need for cross discipline interaction is permeating the industry. MSc Project Management in the Built Environment is specifically designed to develop the skills needed to harmonise these disciplines and draw out the best from everyone involved in a project."

(CL/SP)