Obstacles of becoming a research institution in a developing country

Building an academic research program that can proactively lead and impact the construction industry in a developing country has proven to be difficult. This paper uses Malaysia as a case study to test alternative methodologies. The Malaysian universities have not been successful in bridging the gap between the industry and academic research. The performance of the academic research units has not produced dominant measureable results for the Malaysian construction industry. The result from existing efforts has been a gulf between the construction industry and academic research organizations in Malaysia in terms of credibility. A couple of methodologies will be tested in Malaysia. A major contractor developer Brunsfield has proposed to build research capability and be a primary research organization and then support a university of their choice to participate as an academic partner. The University of Science Malaysia, the top rated research institute in Malyasia has proposed on building a research capability copying a successful model from the United States and partner with other research groups and the industry to build a research capability to attempt to bridge the current gap. The planning for both efforts will be documented in this case study.