COBRA, RICS's construction and building research conference, is being held on Thursday 4 – Friday 5 September 2008, at the Dublin Institute of Technology.
What are the key features of COBRA 2008?
- The venue, Dublin, is a vibrant and historical city, combining a rich history and heritage with a lively modern atmosphere
- Keynote addresses from Tom Parlon, Director General of the Construction Industry Federation, Ireland; and Professor Paul Bowen of the University of Cape Town, South Africa
- Launch of RICS/Blackwell Innovation in the Built Environment research book series, with presentation of first book in the series, Public Private Partnerships: Policy, Management and Finance, by Akintola Akintoye and Mathias Beck
- All papers will be peer-reviewed
- Joint sessions with meetings of CIB W113 (Law and dispute resolution) and W101 (Spatial planning and infrastructure development)
- Doctoral session led by Professor Les Ruddock of the University of Salford, to be held on the afternoon of Thursday 4 September 2008.
- Prizes for the best paper and the best paper in the doctoral session (sponsored by Emerald and the editor of Construction Innovation) and for the best paper on sustainability (sponsored by RICS).
What is COBRA?
The RICS Construction, Building and Real Estate Research Conference
- Presenting the best of construction, building and real estate research worldwide
- Stimulating debate and discussion between researchers from around the world
- Providing the basis for new areas of research
COBRA was first held in 1995 and has been held annually since, acting as a key event for the presentation and discussion of the latest research aspects of construction.
Dates and venues for COBRA
Full details of future COBRA venues are provided in the attached PDF brochure.
2008: Dublin, Ireland. 4-5 September
2009: Cape Town, South Africa. 3-4 September
2010: Paris, France. 2-3 September
What are some of the special features of COBRA?
A high-level research conference
All papers that are submitted to COBRA are subject to review, at both the abstract and full paper stage, to ensure relevance, rigour and topicality.
RICS/Blackwells COBRA book
Each year, one key theme will be identified from the COBRA conference and used as the basis for developing a major research book to be published as the annual RICS/Blackwells COBRA book.
This may be based on a particularly innovative session at COBRA, or it may draw papers from across sessions, where a common theme is emerging.
Authors will have the opportunity to reflect on their paper and to develop them to a final form for the publication.
This will be published annually from 2007 onwards, and copies of the book will be made available free of charge to delegates of the following year’s COBRA.
Of course, this is not to suggest that the papers selected are the only ones worthy of publication. This annual book is intended to complement the RICS/Blackwells construction book series and we also want to use COBRA as a means of developing proposals for this series.
Doctoral session
Giving doctoral students an opportunity to present their work in a supportive and encouraging fashion, enabling them to develop and refine their work and to discuss their research with their peers and colleagues.
Picturing the Built Environment photograph competition
Following the success of the photograph competition that was run for the 2007 COBRA conference in Atlanta, this has now been established as a regular part of COBRA.
Open to students on all RICS partner and accredited courses, this provides an opportunity to showcase the brightest creative talent among students in capturing the essence of the built environment in photographs.
Details of the 2008 photograph competition can be found in the PDF Download box at the top right of this page.
What is the timescale for COBRA each year?
We run COBRA to the same broad timetable each year. The key dates are as follows:
- First call for abstracts issued: Early January
- Date for submission of abstracts: Early March
- Notification of acceptance of abstracts given: Late March
- Date for submission of full papers: Early June
- Full paper accepted: Early July
- Date for submission of final version of full paper: Late August
- Conference: Early September
Papers presented at previous COBRA conferences can be found here.
