News Archive

Professor Darren Dalcher chairs 2011 APM conference

Professor Darren Dalcher, Director of NCPM, has again chaired the APM Project Management Conference - which was held on 20 October 2011 at the Brewery in London.

The theme of this year's conference was 'New world, new project management'. The conference looked at how the project management profession will rise to the challenges of the new world - climate change, technological advances, globalisation, social networks, public health, security and economic regeneration and growth; these challenges require fundamentally new ways of making sense and shaping a world we neither control, nor fully understand.

An impressive list of speakers included David Ackland, head of Programme and Project Management Profession at the Home Office; Julian Foster, Western Campus programme director from BAA Heathrow Airport; Professor Eddie Obeng, learning director at Pentacle; Michel Thiry, managing partner at Valense Ltd; Jeremy Beeton, director general of the Government Olympic Executive; and Tim Banfield, director at the National Audit Office

More information about the conference is available on the APM's webpages.

Read Prof Dalcher's blog comments about the conference theme.

New courses to launch in September

Our new Project Management Practice programmes, which start in September 2011, are designed for graduates who are looking to move into project management, and for practitioners interested in deepening and widening their competence, expertise and professional practice. These courses provide students with the ability to act as better project managers through reflection on how the techniques learned solve real-life problems in their project environments.

International recognition for Professor Darren Dalcher

Professor Darren Dalcher, Director of NCPM, has received international recognition for his work in the field after being awarded a position on a prestigious industry body.

Prof Dalcher has been appointed to PMForum’s International Academic Advisory Council, which includes leading academics in Project Management from some of the world’s top universities and academic institutions. The Advisory Council showcases accomplished researchers, influential educators shaping the next generation of project managers and recognized authorities on modern project management.

Darren said: “I was quite surprised as I didn’t realise I’d been nominated, I still don’t know who nominated me. It is a great honour to be included in such a prestigious group and I have received some wonderful messages of support and congratulation from all over the world.”

He added: “Apart from the personal honour, it is a privilege to be the only UK institution on the list. The appointment reflects the way our work is perceived in the international arena and further confirms our position at the cutting edge in the world of project management research and education”.

PMForum’s President and Managing Editor David Pells said: “Professor Dalcher is one of the most visible and well known academic leaders in the project management field today. As Director of the UK’s National Centre for Project Management, he is at the focal point of leading research and development related to advancing programme and project management in British industry.

“As editor of two book series for Gower Publishing related to both advanced concepts and fundamentals of project management, he is also at the forefront of the project management publishing field”.

Professor Dalcher has been with Middlesex University since January 2001. He has become known in the academic and professional field for his innovative work with the National Centre for Project Management.

He said: “Our work spans across disciplinary boundaries to encompass most areas of human endeavour where intervention and action are required. Project management enters into everything we do, from the arts to the business world and from construction to space exploration. We are trying to expand the scope of what we mean by project management – it’s about managing change and all of the issues that go with that.”

His work also centres on breaking down the idea that project management is a subsection of different disciplines and making research more real-world based and more accessible.

“We are trying to make sure research and practice are linked”, he said. “We start with real issues and find ways of addressing them in innovative ways. An example is with new technologies that change our environment which forces us to question how do we respond interactively to change”.

Last year Prof Dalcher was named Academic of the Year by Project Magazine for “integrating and weaving academic work with practice” and voted as one of the top ten most influential figures in the field by the Association of Project Management, the UK professional body. He was the only academic on the list. Last month he was the conference chair for the APM conference in London bringing together leaders and practitioners from the worlds of the arts, sport, construction, management and engineering to reflect on the need for promoting, growing and nurturing leadership.

The new appointment indicates the international recognition, esteem and respect for his work and his passion for improving the discipline of project management. Jerry Manas, consultant, writer and president of the Marengo Group in the US noted that “Darren is one of the top thinkers in project management today. I had the pleasure to work with Darren and attend his lecture in Iceland at a recent conference where we were both keynote presenters. His eye-opening presentation on decision-making was brilliant, and had many people talking about it afterwards.”

Following his appointment, Darren will be editing a new monthly series of articles in PM World Today focusing on advances in project management. The series, which will be read by over 12,000 subscribers, will feature leading edge research and new developments in the world of managing projects. The new role will enable him to continue to distil knowledge, integrate ideas and place them within the context of practical and usable project management for all.

NCPM Researcher starts work

Dr Birinder Sandhawalia has been appointed as Researcher with the NCPM. Birinder will be involved in a variety of areas relating to the Centre's leading-edge research work.

Advances in Project Management - Book Series

Professor Darren Dalcher, Director of NCPM, is the Series Editor for two new series of project management books, published by Gower.

Advances in Project Management provides short, state of play guides to the main aspects of the new emerging applications of project management.
Fundamentals of Project Management is a series of short guides which cover the key aspects of project management.

APM Conference chaired by Professor Darren Dalcher

The Association for Project Management held its annual conference on 21 October 2009. Prof Darren Dalcher, Director of NCPM, chaired the event, the theme of which was "Delivering Projects Professionally".

The Confer addressed issues including project sponsorship, training and development, growing the skill-set of project professionals and the benefits of the new chartered status.

In the words of APM President Dr Martin Barnes, “projects are about people getting things done and never has this been more critical than today”. As the world faces both environmental and economic challenges, change and innovation, consolidation and growth, this statement becomes ever more relevant.

(August 2009)

Professor Dalcher delivers quality address

Professor Darren Dalcher, delivered the opening keynote address at the Ibero-American Conference on Software Quality, in Madrid, Spain, to 200 delegates. The session focused on issues related to agile project development and the impact on quality.

Professor Dalcher explained that in order to accommodate more rapid delivery of projects, agile methods have been proposed and applied in many project contexts with a varying degree of success. Early results indicate that the application of agile methods leads to significant improvement in productivity and in many cases a matching increase in satisfaction levels and business benefits translating into an improved bottom line. However, increased productivity does not always equate with increased value.

The session reflected on the impact of agile methods on quality of the resulting product and on the practice of project management. He demonstrated that agile methods challenge some of the basic assumptions embedded in sound project management. While they overcome some limitations, they introduce new constraints and ways of thinking which need to be considered. Their adoption would thus require intelligent adjustments to how projects are perceived, prioritised and managed. Professor Dalcher concluded by exploring the limitations of agile methods and the tradeoffs that need to be made when agile methods are selected.

The session was well received delegates and lead to interesting discussions for the remainder of the day.

Middlesex Professor delivers keynote for new initiative

The Association for Project Management (APM) recently launched its Education Network Forum with a conference at Aston University's Business School, with the aim to bridge the growing skills gap in the rapidly expanding profession.

The keynote address focused on the potential gap. The growth of the accidental project manager, who has emerged to fill the void left by this gap is making project success harder to achieve, warned Professor Darren Dalcher of the National Centre of Project Management at Middlesex University and a specialist in the nature of project failure. In Japan, project management focuses on people issues as much as processes, and they have a much better record of project success.

Professor Dalcher believes that closing the gap between theory and practice is likely to have a key bearing on improving performance. Current academic research reveals that appreciating social complexity, reflective practice and focussing on long term benefits highlight the contribution that Universities can make in creating a new paradigm in project management practice.

Having identified a number of latent gaps, including the one between knowing and doing, he called for a greater integration between researchers, teachers and practitioners in project management with the intention to fundamentally change the way project management is understood, practiced and taught.

A new paradigm in project management is how Professor Dalcher describes the opportunity of bridging the theory practice gap. It seems that parties on all sides are willing for it to happen.

(June 2008)

New MSc Managing Major Projects and Programmes course to start in October 2008

This innovative new course, which incorporates our very successful PG Cert Managing Major Projects, will begin in October 2008. The aim of the MSc is that its graduates will be qualified to manage the most complex programmes, skilled enough to run cross-discipline business and technical projects and become experts in the politics and processes of the project and programme community. The MSc concentrates on areas of projects and programmes that need excellent management to ensure success, and is a highly application-focused course that returns immediate value to the professional environments of its students.

(July 2008)

Project Management students successful

The fourth and fifth cohorts of project managers to complete the Postgraduate Certificate in Managing Major Projects, offered by the Centre and CITI Ltd, graduated in July 2008. The Postgraduate Certificate is proving to be a successful way for experienced project managers to refine and improve their skills and progress in their industries.

(July 2008)

National Centre for Project Management sponsors major project management event

The National Centre for Project Management is involved in “happy projects”, a major international project management conference in Vienna on May 29-30 2008. Professor Darren Dalcher, the founder of the Centre, is a member of the steering committee overseeing the conference.

The theme of the conference is “Projects and Sales”. The conference will consist of academic workshops and expert-led seminars on a variety of aspects of project and programme management.

More details

Middlesex Professor delivers keynote for new initiative

The Association for Project Management (APM) recently launched its Education Network Forum with a conference at Aston University's Business School, with the aim to bridge the growing skills gap in the rapidly expanding profession.

The keynote address focused on the potential gap. The growth of the accidental project manager, who has emerged to fill the void left by this gap is making project success harder to achieve, warned Professor Darren Dalcher of the National Centre of Project Management at Middlesex University and a specialist in the nature of project failure. In Japan, project management focuses on people issues as much as processes, and they have a much better record of project success.
Professor Dalcher believes that closing the gap between theory and practice is likely to have a key bearing on improving performance. Current academic research reveals that appreciating social complexity, reflective practice and focussing on long term benefits highlight the contribution that Universities can make in creating a new paradigm in project management practice.

Having identified a number of latent gaps, including the one between knowing and doing, he called for a greater integration between researchers, teachers and practitioners in project management with the intention to fundamentally change the way project management is understood, practiced and taught.

"A new paradigm in project management" is how Professor Dalcher describes the opportunity of bridging the theory practice gap. It seems that parties on all sides are willing for it to happen.

(June 2008)

NCPM Director is one of APM's Top Ten

Prof Darren Dalcher, Director of NCPM, has been named as Exemplary Academic in the Association for Project Management's Top Ten. This annual list profiles the most important and influential people in the project management profession, and Prof Dalcher's work in a variety of areas has been highlighted by this award.

The article in "Project" magazine describes him as ".....a tireless supporter of the profession who appears to do the work of a small army of project managers, and is a central figure in the discipline who continually raises professional standards and defines complex issues." Prof Dalcher "weaves high-level academic work seamlessly into the real world of the profession, and is at the forefront of communicating some of the most complex concepts into words that everyone can understand outside - and even inside - the profession."

(March 2008)

Advances in Project Management Book Series

The National Centre for Project Manangement, in association with Gower Publishing, is developing a book series which aims to improve understanding and project capability amongst senior decision-makers and professional project and programme managers within organisations. Our ambition is to provide thought-provoking, cutting-edge books which combine conceptual insights with interdisciplinary rigour and practical relevance, thus offering new insights and understanding of key areas and approaches.

For further information on becoming an author, please read our background and brief for prospective authors.

(February 2008)

More Project Management students graduate

The second and third groups of project managers to complete the Postgraduate Certificate in Managing Major Projects, offered by the Centre and CITI Ltd, graduated in July 2007. Several of our students have recently made upward career moves; one graduate said "I am certain that I was chosen for my latest very interesting project management role on the basis of being able to demonstrate the depth of knowledge and capability I had obtained from the course."

(July 2007)

"Fundamentals of Project Management" workshop a success

The National Centre for Project Management, in collaboration with ALT (Association for Learning Technology) conducted a workshop, ‘Fundamentals of Project Management’, at The Mansion, Trent Park, on 4 July 2007. Birinder Sandhawalia, a researcher at the Centre, presented the day-long workshop which provided the delegates with an insight into the basic ideas, concepts and techniques of project management. Delegates were introduced to the fundamental processes of project initiation, planning, monitoring, and closure. ‘Hands on’ exercises further helped bring out the learning and understanding required to manage the constraints, perspectives and resources of a project in demanding environments.

Those attending the workshop came from many different parts of the UK, and included practitioners and researchers. The delegates appreciated the content and exercises at the workshop, and were complementary of the final session where they had the opportunity to interact with Professor Dalcher, the Director of the Centre. Professor Dalcher provided the delegates with further insights into the latest trends in project management, with an emphasis on agile methods in systems development.

(July 2007)

National Centre Summer Event - Building on Success

The National Centre for Project Management held a presentation and buffet on 7th June to celebrate its achievements over the past year and outline its plans for the future.

Representatives from a wide variety of industries and organisations mingled with project management professionals, graduates and students.

The Vice-Chancellor of Middlesex University, Professor Michael Driscoll, gave an introduction, emphasising the University’s commitment to the Centre and to his wish to promote and encourage effective project management within the University’s own systems.

Mark Gray, the University's Director of CPD, spoke about the importance of project management within industry and the significance of the qualifications which the Centre is developing.

Professor Darren Dalcher, the Director of the Centre, opened his presentation by pointing out that “project manager” is a loose term which can be used by a variety of people.

Although many people referred to themselves as “project managers”, lack of good project management was, according to his research, the most significant factor in the failure of projects.

Prof Dalcher outlined what the National Centre is about, its vision and mission, how it operates, and how, with its interdisciplinary focus, it is unique. He spoke about how, in exploring the new frontiers of project management knowledge and capability, the Centre endeavours to reflect the increasing role of projects and project management in modern society as well as the organisational, strategic and cultural implications associated with instituting sound project management practice. He talked about the major areas of research within the Centre – competence frameworks, agile project management, maturity and capability and ethics, amongst others. He spoke about the various different courses which the Centre is running and developing, and about its library and resource centre – a comprehensive collection which is available by appointment to project management students.

Prof Dalcher summarised by emphasising the success of the Centre’s PG Cert Managing Major Projects, which has attacted an excellent mix of high-calibre students from industry. He spoke about the very high standard of one particular student’s final project report, in which the reflective practices within an industry were analysed and recommendations made which the industry will take on board for the future. The outcomes of this course characterise the Centre's unique approach to learning and development through the creation of partnerships between learners, organisations and the knowledge facilitators.

Also showcased was the Centre’s new book series, Advances in Project Management, and Professor Dalcher's latest book, Successful IT Projects, which is now available.

(June 2007)

Global Project Manager Standards launched

The Global Alliance for Project Performance Standards (GAPPS) has recently announced the launch of the first ever globally developed performance based competence standards for project managers.

The Standards have been created by a global team of representatives from industry, academia, national training authorities and professional associations, including Professor Darren Dalcher, the founder of the National Centre for Project Management. GAPPS is an independent collaborative not-for-profit organisation dedicated to fostering mutual recognition for project and program management standards and qualifications. It was formed in response to an emerging need for global portability of project management qualifications, certifications and development programs.

More information is available on the GAPPS website.

(March 2007)

"Successful IT Projects" book to be published

Written by Professor Darren Dalcher, Director of the Centre, and Lindsay Brodie of Middlesex University, "Successful IT Projects" is part of the Fast Track series from Thomson Learning. The book works through the key phases of a technical project and covers project selection, planning, risk and quality management, as well as project monitoring and evaluation. It will be available in May 2007.

More details

(February 2007)

National Centre for Project Management Director awarded APM Fellowship

Professor Darren Dalcher, Director of the National Centre for Project Management, has recently been elected a Fellow of the Association for Project Management, the largest European professional body of the project management industry. This is in recognition of his significant contribution to the development of the art and science of project management through his research work and his knowledge dissemination activities.

(December 2006)

Researcher wins Best Paper Award
National Centre researcher, Antoinette Cyriaano, recently won the Best Paper award at the 19th ICSSEA (International Conference Software & Systems Engineering and their Applications) in Paris. Antoinette's paper focused on Failure and Success Factors and how they are addressed by Maturity Models.

Antoinette with her award

(December 2006)

New base for National Centre for Project Management

The Centre is now based at College House on Middlesex University's Trent Park campus.

The Centre's reference library and resource room are available to all postgraduate students and project management professionals by appointment.

The Centre team outside College House

(September 2006)

Success for Project Management students

The first group of project managers to complete the Postgraduate Certificate in Managing Major Projects, offered by the Centre and CITI Ltd, graduated in July 2006.

The successful graduates with Janet Rix of Middlesex University and Dr Thomas Docker of CITI.

(July 2006)

National Centre for Project Management sponsors major project management event

For the third year running, the National Centre for Project Management at Middlesex University was involved in sponsoring and organising a leading international conference, "the pm days". The topic for the 2007 conference was “Projects and Management: from 9 to 5?”. Professor Darren Dalcher, the founder of the Centre, is a member of the steering committee overseeing the conference.

The "pm days" have been a meeting point for national and international project management experts for almost 25 years; in 2006 and 2007 more than 300 participants from all areas of the industry attended.The main conference was based at the prestigious Tech Gate Vienna and was hosted by the University of Vienna with co-operation from Middlesex University and ESC Lille, thus bringing together three active research communities. The programme was split into an education and research conference followed by a practice conference and a series of expert seminars thereby engaging academia, business and industry in the range of discussions.

Information on pm days 2007