The Doctor of Project Management (DPM) is a professional doctorate degree in project management (PM) specifically designed for candidates to consolidate and better understand their existing skills and knowledge of how to manage projects. It enables project managers to reflect upon their widespread experience and learn new skills and gain insights into core strategic areas of required expertise such as knowledge management, PM leadership and ethical procurement.

The research component is industry applied using a case study and action learning approach on projects that the DPM candidate has an involvement with. The philosophy of the program is very much global in nature and cross-disciplinary in content. It aims to extend candidates’ professional PM expertise well beyond the level expected for PM professional accreditation. The focus is on depth of understanding of emerging PM strategic issues and leads to the advance of the PM profession. Consequently this leads to indepth reflective learning and case study research work being the means to prepare candidates for their final dissertation developed around their propositions for improving PM professional practice.

Why study Project Management?
This program enables project managers to reflect upon their widespread experience and learn new skills and gain insights into core strategic areas of required expertise such as knowledge management, project management leadership and ethical procurement.

Graduates of the program will have experienced considerable and rigorous self-examination and reflection of how they, and project management professionals in general, discharge their duties to project stakeholders.

Coursework
The doctoral program consists of four core courses:

knowledge management
project management leadership
project management procurement and ethics

one further elective course.

Each of the four core areas is accompanied by a reflective learning course. Candidates combine their group and individual core coursework assignments, and private study in association with their academic supervisor to develop a reflective learning paper of about 6,000 words that comprises a thorough literature review and research proposal.

Research Work
Each of the four PM core areas is then further investigated through a research study, using the candidate’s own projects as the unit of analysis for study. This results in four research preparation papers, each of approximately 12,000–15,000 words in length. The four papers are then consolidated into a coherent dissertation during the third year of study into a 50,000–60,000-word research thesis (though most theses end up being about 100,000 words) to be examined using the same process as PhD work.

Supervision
Each candidate has an academic supervisor with appropriate research qualifications to supervise a doctoral candidate plus a deep understanding of project management and with extensive experience in project management environments. Additionally, each candidate nominates industry mentors and supporters who can facilitate their learning and assist with research analysis as a sounding board for theory and practice.

Dissertation/Thesis
The dissertation is the product of a combined process of reflection, case study research and action learning experiments. It pulls together the content of the four research preparation papers to explain the research issues investigated and inform how practice in project management is advanced. The major contribution that the dissertation makes is in identifying how changing approaches to project management, in a complex world of both integrated and individual project solutions, can best be advanced. The focus on knowledge management, procurement and ethics and project management leadership allows a flexible framework within which to develop high-level concepts about project management service delivery improvement.

Follow this link to download a PDF version of this program brochure.

To see the program structure, please click here.

General information is available at Postgraduate Study at RMIT

Useful links

Research Supervisors and their Research Interests

Research and Innovation at RMIT University

Information for Research Students

RMIT Research Centres

Duration

Three years full-time, or six to eight years part-time.

The program is mainly delivered via the Internet with one five-day residential component undertaken in the first year, usually in the last week of October. Four core courses undertaken during the first two years entail extensive small group work.

Career Prospects

Many current candidates have aspirations of using the DPM as a means of combining a part-time academic career with a continuing industry career. Graduates will be qualified to supervise doctoral students and could commercialise their thesis ideas. Graduates of the program will have experienced considerable and rigorous self-examination and reflection of how they and project management professionals in general discharge their duties to project stakeholders.

Entrance Requirements

Applicants must have:

A Master degree from a recognised university in an appropriate discipline area such as an MBA, project management, logistics, IT or engineering where fundamental elements of business and project management have been studied
or
An Honours degree (in which an additional year of research study has been undertaken above the undergraduate degree) achieved with a first or upper second level result
plus
Approximately 10 years of work experience within a project management environment.

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Application Procedures

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Fees

2009: AU$19,680 per year full-time

2009: AU$205 per credit point

Fees are payable at the commencement of each semester and are calculated annually.

Tuition fees are subject to annual adjustment and are not fixed for the duration of your study. Changes to fees are applied from 1 January each year. Further information is available at: www.rmit.edu.au/programs/fees/highered/fullfees

Programs by coursework are offered on a Fee Paying Places (FFP) basis. A limited number of coursework programs and all honours programs have Commonwealth Supported Places (CSP) (previously HECS).

Fee Paying Places (FPP)
FPP students are required to pay the complete cost of their program. FPP fees vary according to each program.

Students offered a FPP maybe eligible for the FEE-HELP (FEE-Higher Education Loan Program) scheme, which enables eligible fee paying students to obtain an interest-free loan up to a maximum value of $80,000 from the Commonwealth Government to pay all or part of their tuition fees.

For further information: www.goingtouni.gov.au

Commonwealth Supported Places (CSP)
A CSP is jointly funded by the Commonwealth Government and the student. In 2009, the fees will range between $4,162 and $8,677 per year for a standard full-time program. The exact cost varies according to each course.

Calculating tuition costs for Commonwealth supported students

Postgraduate Coursework Commonwealth Supported Equity Places
RMIT has a limited number of government subsidised Commonwealth Supported Places (CSP) in full-fee postgraduate coursework programs for applicants who meet entrance and equity criteria. Instead of paying full-fees either upfront or with a FEE-HELP loan, the CSP Equity place allows students to complete their program as a Commonwealth supported student in a subsidised place with a choice of up-front, partial up-front or deferred payment options.

For further information: www.rmit.edu.au/equity

Record spend on RMIT scholarships
RMIT University will spend more than $60 million on student scholarships over the next five years. RMIT has many scholarships and funding opportunities to offer students.

Further information is available at RMIT Scholarships

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Program Structure

The following program structure(s) are linked to this program.

Contact Details

Professor Derek HT Walker
Tel. + 61 3 9925 3908
Email: derek.walker@rmit.edu.au

Download this information as a PDF brochure (Requires Acrobat Reader)

Owning School

Property, Constr & Proj Mgt

Disclaimer

Although RMIT endeavours to ensure the accuracy of this information, there is no guarantee it will remain accurate all year. Applicants are advised to confirm program details with the appropriate school before making an application.