Mar 28, 2024  
2023-2024 Graduate Catalog 
    
2023-2024 Graduate Catalog

Civil Engineering, Ph.D.


College of Engineering  
Department: Civil and Environmental Engineering

Concentrations:

  • Engineering for International Development
  • Environmental Engineering
  • Geotechnical
  • Materials
  • Structures
  • Transportation
  • Water Resources
 

The Ph.D. degree is awarded in recognition of demonstrated scholarly competence and ability to conduct and report original and significant research in Civil Engineering.

The field of Civil Engineering has long been known for its breadth and ability to adapt to the new technological needs of society. The traditional areas of public works, such as highways, bridges, water supply, building design, and wastewater treatment, remain very important. In addition, the modern area of managing the environment, including sustainable development, has been included in the Civil Engineering domain. Graduates of the major are prepared for careers in academia, with public agencies, or with private industry, including firms involved in planning, design, research and development, or regulation.

Ph.D. students may work in any of the areas of Civil Engineering, including Engineering Mechanics, Environmental Engineering, Geotechnical Engineering, Pavement Engineering, Materials Engineering and Science, Structures Engineering, Transportation Engineering and Planning, and Water Resources Engineering.

Accreditation

The Florida Board of Professional Engineers allows for successful completion of a graduate studies leading to Ph.D, degree in engineering to provide credit toward two year of engineering experience.

Major Research Areas:
Civil Engineering, including Engineering Mechanics, Environmental Engineering, Geotechnical Engineering, Pavement Engineering, Materials Engineering and Science, Structures Engineering, Transportation Engineering and Planning, and Water Resources Engineering.

The department has a high bay structures laboratory, which includes an MTS 250 kip testing machine. There are also well-equipped environmental, soils, pavement and hydraulics laboratories. These laboratories include equipment for water and air quality analysis, bench and pilot scale reactor studies, field instrumentation for environmental and water resources studies, constant rate of stress consolidometer, triaxial units, and Superpave testing equipment.

Admission Information

Must meet University Admission and English Proficiency requirements as well as requirements for admission to the major, listed below.

Curriculum Requirements


Total Program Hours:
78 hours minimum post-bachelor’s
48 hours minimum post-master’s

  • Core requirement – 5 Credit hours
  • Concentration – 15 Credit hours
  • Electives – 29 Credit hours
  • Dissertation – 20 Credit hours
  • Other course requirement – 9 Credit hours

Concentration Requirements (15 Credit Hours Minimum)


Students may select from one of these concentrations.

Engineering for International Development (15 Credit Hours)


Students must engage in full-time global training and service as part of the concentration (e.g., in the U.S. Peace Corps, with a non-governmental organization, UNESCO-IHE, or equivalent).  This work must be incorporated into the student’s dissertation.  Note that a student may register for CST 6990 for 0 credit hours while in their country of service.

A minimum of 1 course from the following applied anthropology courses: (3 Credit Hours)

A minimum of 1 course from the following global public health courses: (3 Credit Hours)

Additional 6 graduate level credit hours of coursework in EFD or closely related areas

At least one course from the following:

Geotechnical (15 Credit Hours)


Materials (15 Credit Hours)


At least 2 courses from the following list: (6 Credit Hours)

Structures (15 Credit Hours)


1 course from the following list of courses: (3 Credit Hours)

1 course from the following list of courses: (3 Credit Hours)

Transportation (15 Credit Hours)


Water Resources (15 Credit Hours)


A minimum of 4 courses from the following list: (12 Credit Hours)

Electives (29 Credit Hours)


Graduate level electives are selected in consultation with the student’s major research advisor and/or advisory committee

  • No more than 9 credit hours of Independent Study may be applied to meet the coursework requirement.
  • No more than 6 credit hours of thesis may be applied to meet the coursework requirement.
  • Directed research and/or dissertation credits may not be counted towards the coursework requirement.

Qualifying Exam


Doctoral students are expected to pass a qualifying examination no later than the semester following the completion of 48 credits of coursework beyond a bachelor’s degree. At minimum, the exam will include a written dissertation proposal and oral defense by the dissertation committee. A written exam in the area of concentration may also be required. Poor performance on the qualifying exam based on the judgment of the committee may result in the student failing the exam. If a student does not pass on the first attempt, he/she may request in writing to repeat the exam. Students who fail the Qualifying examination the second time will be dismissed by the Major.

Dissertation Requirements (20 Credit Hours Minimum)


A minimum of 20 credits of dissertation, an approved PhD dissertation, and a dissertation defense are required. Students may not sign up for dissertation credits until they have defended their proposal and advanced to candidacy (see Qualifying Exam, above).

Additional Requirements (9 Credit Hours Minimum)


Nine (9) credits of additional graduate level coursework, dissertation, or directed research are required.

Publication Requirement


Students must have at least one paper accepted to a peer-reviewed journal or peer-reviewed conference based on their research carried out during their doctoral studies at USF.