The Chief of Defence Force Students Program in Engineering offers the opportunity for students entering UNSW Canberra with a high Entrance Rank, and who maintain a high level of performance in their studies, to undertake research in a range of disciplines that will develop their critical thinking and independent research skills beyond that available in the standard Engineering program. In Year 1 of the program, students will be engaged with cohort activities so as to develop and maintain their interest and continuing involvement in the program via invited lectures, seminars, general reading and social events. Commencing in Year 2, the research projects, each offered as separate courses, will be supervised by academic staff from the same or closely related discipline. Students in the research courses may work independently or as part of a team, depending on the nature of the project undertaken, though all students will submit individual assessment. Final assessment, due by the end of session, will be based on a written paper and an oral presentation. The Program is of four years duration, and is awarded as an honours degree. The Program is accredited by Engineers Australia.

The BE (CivilCDF) program has program objectives and learning outcomes in common with the standard BE Civil program. The program extends the educational principles embodied in the BE to a higher level of the degree. In the program, students will be exposed in first year to research methods in Engineering and will be offered significant extensions to the ideas and analysis performed in the standard degree program. This will allow them to undertake research projects, at the appropriate level, in their later years, thereby, more fully integrating research into the standard undergraduate degree. The individual projects undertaken in close association with academic staff on research topics of mutual interest underpin the program and give the students the ability to develop their full potential.