CIOB’s new and improved Global Student Challenge open for entries

The Chartered Institute of Building’s (CIOB) Global Student Challenge competition has been launched with a new look for 2023.

The competition, which has been running for more than a decade, requires teams of students studying for built environment qualifications, to create a virtual organisation to plan and deliver a fictional construction project. They must demonstrate creative thinking, business planning, entrepreneurial spirit and communication skills to ultimately reach the final and compete against other teams for the coveted Global Student Challenge title.

The winning team will be rewarded with an all-expenses paid trip to CIOB Members’ Forum in the UK to test their ideas in front of some of the world’s finest construction professionals, and importantly gain feedback they can learn from. They will also receive a £2,000 cash prize.

The 2023 challenge will use a new online platform called Sim Venture Validate, which is currently used by a wide range of universities for various subjects to build employability and enterprise skills in curricular and extra-curricular learning environments. It is also used by corporate clients for employee skills development and business innovation activities, making it an ideal platform to test CIOB’s Global Student Challenge entrants.

Kate MacBeth, Marketing Director at CIOB, said: “We’re really excited to be launching this year’s Global Student Challenge with its new look. The technology now available to us will provide an even more valuable experience for students than our previous setup - really testing their limits and unleashing their creativity. It opens the door more fully for them to think outside the box but will also test their analytical and technical skills too, so it’s set to be our toughest challenge yet. 

“For a decade students from around the world have taken on each other to claim the famous Global Student Challenge title, many of whom are now enjoying fantastic careers in the industry and have made connections that will stand them in good stead in the future. We can’t wait to start receiving entries for 2023 and seeing which team will come out on top.”

In total 41 teams from 18 universities and colleagues entered the 2022 competition, which was won by a team from Tongji University, China, who described the experience as a “breath-taking adventure”.