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About APREF | Educational Scholarships | Defined Call Research Topics | 2021 Inaugural APREF Research Grants | Peter Barrington Gold Medal Award | APREF FAQs
Advancing property research and educating tomorrow’s leaders
The Australian Property Research and Education Fund Ltd was established to advance the twin arms of research and education, training and development; in the property industry specifically in valuation and land economy. The Fund has Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) status, and is a registered charity with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission.
For any enquiries, please contact [email protected].
About APREF
Administration
The APREF Board oversees the work of the Fund. To support the achievement of Fund objectives, two Committees – Research and Education, were established. Committee members were selected based on the desired mix of current skills in academic research, education and practitioner skills.
The role of the Research Committee is to facilitate the undertaking of scientific research in the property industry, specifically in the fields of valuation and land economy.
The role of the Education Committee is to guide the award of scholarships, bursaries and prizes for the purpose of advancing education, training and development activities that relate to valuation and land economy.
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Educational Scholarships
For 2022, APREF is funding two scholarships to financially support study of a University API accredited degree, specialising in the valuation field. These scholarships are open to prospective 2022 tertiary students, who are either currently studying Year 12 or are a mature aged applicant. Applicants must reside in either Tasmania or rural/regional locations, with a scholarship awarded to one student from each location. The scholarship funding will be awarded for the duration of an API accredited property valuation degree. Recipients will have access to senior property professionals who will act as a mentor, for varying periods, during their studies.
Application process
Applicants are to apply by completing the API APREF 2022 Scholarships Application Form and attaching the required information.
Please read the Scholarship Information Sheet as well as the Scholarship Application form (print version) or Scholarship Application form (digital PDF version).
Submissions close 30 October 2021.
API Accredited Courses
We work closely with the education sector to ensure the courses accredited for API membership meet the highest standard of education, furthering the ongoing quality and knowledge of API Members. Get started on your journey in the property industry today!
Defined Call Research Topics
Research Grants
Following feedback from the API Membership, the APREF Research Committee and the wider property academic profession, APREF has released five defined research topics for funded research. Applications are now open!
The APREF Research Fund’s objective is to facilitate scientific research in the property industry, specifically in the fields of valuation and land economy. APREF have identified five priorities for the Australian property industry.
Please download and submit to [email protected].
Submissions close on COB 30 August 2021.
2021 APREF Defined Call Topics
This could include impact of possible future interest rate rises, property values over the long term, and/or home ownership and investment.
This could include value effect in locations impacted by stressors such as natural disasters, economic stressors or other acute or chronic stressors.
This may include the design and implementation of models to predict property workforce planning needs.
This could include adaptive reuse, rising CBD vacancies, urban planning, public spaces, sustainability, smart increase in density and/or quality of life in Australian cities.
This could include rising regional housing values with a population shift into some regional areas causing impacts on housing prices, long term rental affordability and availability, Land Tax and/or the impact of possible future interest rate rises.
2021 Inaugural APREF Research Grants
The API is delighted to launch the inaugural round of APREF research grants for 2021. A hotly contested field of 26 applications was reduced to three successful grants which will explore topics critical to the Australian property industry. Researchers and from QUT and the University of Melbourne, experts in their fields, will report back to the API on the impacts of AI in mass valuations, climate change risk to property and implications for valuations and the opportunities for the emerging build to rent market.
Big Visual Data Analysis using Artificial Intelligence for Mass Valuation of Residential Properties in Australia
Dr Vincent Hoang
Dr Kein Nguyen
Dr Andrea Blake
Valuation @ Risk
Georgia Warren-Meyers
Dr Lucy Cradduck
Urban densification through private land assembling in inner and middle suburbs for decentralised mixed/single use build to rent development
Jyoti Shukla
D. Stojanovic
P. Tiwari
Peter Barrington Gold Medal Award
Winner of the 2021 award
Congratulations to Dr Christopher Phelps from Curtin University, awarded this year’s APREF 2021 Peter Barrington Award for his thesis “Essays Connecting Australian Dwelling Price Growth and Subjective Wellbeing to Within-City income and Wealth Differentials”.
The Peter Barrington Award, established in 1985, is designed to encourage research excellence in the study of land economy. The award is open to students undertaking a Property Masters or PHD at an Australian academic institution.
As the winner/awardee, Dr Phelps will present his research as part of the APREF Research Seminar Series in 2022, open to API Members.
The Peter Barrington Gold Medal Award was established in 1985 as an endowment by the Hammerson Group of Companies in recognition of the contribution to the property profession by Peter Barrington. The purpose of the award is to encourage research and excellence in the study of land economy through the presentation of a major work in support of an approved academic program.
The award lapsed for a short period but was reinstated and awarded in 2019 to Jyoti Rao for her thesis Fundamental Functionings of Landowners: Understanding the relationship between land ownership and wellbeing through the lens of ‘capability’. In 2020 the Peter Barrington Award was awarded to Dr Tiffany Hutcheson for her thesis Investment in Property by Australian Superannuation schemes.
To ensure the longevity of this prestigious award, it will now be managed under the umbrella of APREF.
Judging of entries for the Peter Barrington Gold Medal Award shall be completed by a Panel constituted from the APREF Research Committee.
The Panel shall review entries, giving due consideration to the contribution of the work to the advancement in the knowledge or practice of land economy.
An assessment rubric will be used by the appointed Panel judges in ranking the submissions. Papers graded a Pass will not be eligible for the Award. Marks for individual papers will not be provided to applicants and will be used for internal review and assessment purposes only.
Eligibility
The Award is open to all Australian students undertaking a course of study at the Masters or PHD level in a property professional field at an Australian academic institution.
Submissions from other academic faculties (eg. accounting, law, business administration) shall also be accepted for consideration where the subject matter of the research is considered to be relevant to the advancement of land economy.
The entry shall be a thesis or paper which has been prepared as a component part of the Masters or PhD course of study undertaken by the student. Whilst there is no word limit, the written submission should reflect the level of research and analysis expected of a Master or PhD thesis.
All submissions are to be accompanied by an endorsement from the student’s Master’s or PhD supervisor.
Submissions must be lodged via email (with the paper attached as a PDF document). Completion with a cover sheet recording the details of the author, a brief summary of the thesis, and a supporting statement from the supervisor from the educational institution at which the study is being undertaken.
The work shall be submitted to [email protected] by no later than 30 September 2021. The work must have been submitted for assessment within a year of this date (ie no earlier than 30 September 2020).
The winner shall be awarded a framed certificate of merit, complimentary API membership for one year, and a cheque to the value of $A1000. The winner will also be expected to present their research to the API membership, most likely via the APREF Research Seminar Series.
This award shall be presented at an API function. The date of presentation shall be at the discretion of the Chairperson of the APREF Board.
