A minimum of 36 credit hours of coursework beyond the bachelor's is required for the Doctor of Philosophy in civil engineering. At least 12 of these credits must be completed at the University of Maryland. A minimum of 12 semester hours of dissertation research is also required. Students must maintain a minimum 3.5 GPA in CEE courses and an overall grade point average of 3.0 from outside the department.
In addition to the coursework requirement, Ph.D. candidates must complete a qualifying exam and pass a research proposal examination. All Ph.D. students must pass an oral exam, administered by a committee of five graduate faculty members, in defense of their dissertation.
This program focuses on computing, communications, sensing, and materials science to enable students to contribute to the design of a new generation of large scale civil engineering systems. Related research will concentrate on how to optimize system efficiency, reliability, cost, and other factors.
Students must complete one course in three core areas as well as three courses from six specialty areas and two approved electives. Visit the Courses page for available courses and descriptions. Core areas include:
- Systems—ENSE 621: Systems Modeling and Design or ENSE 622: Systems Requirements, Design and Tradeoff Analysis
- Operations research/optimization—ENCE 603: Management Science Applications in Project Management or ENCE 677: OR Models for Transportation Systems Analysis
- Sensing and controls—ENCE 688A: Sensing and Systems Control
Faculty working in this technical division include:
For more information, visit the Civil Systems website.
This program provides a core background in water chemistry, environmental biology, and process dynamics. Advanced course work and research opportunities in water and wastewater treatment, bioremediation, pollutants and risk, ground and surface water hydrology, and air pollution is available in CEE and allied departments. Learn more about research from this division on the Environmental Engineering Laboratories website.
Students must complete the following core courses, along with three additional environmental and water resources courses. Remaining electives must be approved by your advisor. Visit the Courses page for available courses and descriptions.
- ENCE 637: Biological Principles of Environmental Engineering
- ENCE 650: Process Dynamics of Environmental Systems
- ENCE 651: Chemistry of Natural Waves
Faculty working in this technical division include:
This program will help you to understand and create the surfaces that we walk and drive on every day. Related research areas include soil properties and behavior, earth retaining structures, geomechanics, highway and airfield pavement engineering, materials characterization and behavior, foundations, dynamics, earthquake engineering, nondestructive evaluation, and geoenvironmental engineering.
Students in this program select from program course offerings in consultation with advisor. Visit the Courses page for available courses and descriptions.
Faculty working in this division include:
This program provides basic, advanced, and specialized project management knowledge necessary for graduates to be proficient in recognized specialties of project management. Students will have many opportunities to research relevant theoretical and practical problems in major project-based industries including engineering and construction, real estate planning, government services, and others for use in their dissertations.
Students must complete the following five core courses as well as a series of electives. Visit the Courses page for available courses and descriptions.
- ENCE 627: Project Risk Management
- ENCE 661: Project Cost Accounting and Finance
- ENCE 662: Introduction to Project Management
- ENCE 664: Legal Aspects of Engineering Design and Construction
- ENCE 665: Management of Project Teams
Faculty working in this technical division include:
For more information, visit the Project Management Center for Excellence website.
This program focuses on the design, construction, and maintenance of the load carrying components of civil engineering infrastructure: buildings, bridges, dams, protective structures, and more.
Students in this program complete an individual plan of study with their faculty advisor. Visit the Courses page for available courses and descriptions.
Faculty working in this division include:
This program provides students with in-depth knowledge in a range of topics critical to the field— from the more traditional areas of transportation planning, travel behavior, traffic operations, safety, and design to system optimization, transportation economics and policy, infrastructure vulnerability and protection, emissions estimation, and sustainability analysis. Research in this program is interdisciplinary, incorporating elements of mathematics, computer science, architecture and urban planning, operations research and management science, logistics, economics, and psychology.
Students in this program select from program course offerings in consultation with advisor. Visit the Courses page for available courses and descriptions.
Faculty working in this division include:
For more information, visit the Transportation Engineering Program website.
This program helps students understand and apply analytical, computational, and experimental methods for studying water in natural and engineered systems. Related research areas include watershed hydrology, geographic information systems, urban water resources systems, water quality modeling, and hydraulic and river engineering.
Students must complete the following core courses in addition to electives. Visit the Courses page for available courses and descriptions.
- ENCE 431: Hydrologic Engineering
- ENCE 630: Environmental and Water Resources Systems I
Faculty working in this technical division include: