Doctoral Degrees Web Page | School of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Doctoral study provides the highest level of formal preparation before entering the engineering profession. It is both competitive and challenging and offers special opportunities for learning, research and application. Together with their professors and mentors, doctoral students comprise a true community of scholars. The student's advisory committee, which is responsible for overseeing the student's final achievement, is an integral part of such a community.

Doctoral study is normally completed in three to five years, depending on individual circumstances. In addition to the general requirements of the Graduate School as outlined in the Graduate School Catalog, each student must meet the minimum requirements of the program as well as complete and successfully defend a dissertation.

You can earn a PhD in Civil Engineering with a concentration in Applied Mechanics, Structural Engineering, or Transportation and Urban Engineering. You can earn a PhD in Environmental Engineering with a focus in Atmospheric Sciences, Hydrogeosciences and Water Resources, or Contaminant Fate and Resource Recovery.

Applied Mechanics

Students pursuing a PhD in Civil Engineering with a concentration in Applied Mechanics will increase their knowledge by pursuing in-depth research along with faculty. The Structural Engineering and Applied Mechanics (STAM) group performs multi-disciplinary research in the areas of structural engineering, advanced design, and structural vibrations. The faculty has expertise in both structural engineering, involving the design of buildings, bridges and other structures, and applied mechanics, which forms the basis of all structural analysis and design. Faculty research areas include computational fracture, damage mechanics, and theoretical structural mechanics. Learn more.

Structural Engineering

Students pursuing a PhD in Civil Engineering with a concentration in Structural Engineering will increase the breadth and depth of their understanding of the subject matter through in-depth research and advanced coursework in concrete or steel structures. Students will benefit from access to our Structures Laboratory, a high-bay facility whose in-house crane, actuator, and shake-table provide the capacity to conduct full-scale experiments on structural components. Faculty hold expertise in areas including multihazard resilient design, structural health monitoring, smart structures, and structural simulation techniques. Learn more.

Transportation and Urban Engineering

Educational and research activities in Transportation and Urban Engineering focus on the planning, design and operation of transportation systems. Faculty research interests span a variety of areas of expertise, including transportation safety, highway crash prediction, geographic information science, sustainable transportation, urban design, and regional planning. The Transportation Systems Laboratory is currently used for teaching graduate courses, senior design collaborative space, research activities and partnering with academic and industry partners.The transportation research group works in conjunction with the Connecticut Transportation Institute. Learn more.

Atmospheric Sciences
Students completing this track will gain knowledge in meteorology and atmospheric science, will be able to quantify how species move in the atmosphere, understand climate and its forcings; be able to make atmospheric measurements (meteorological and sampling for gaseous and aerosol pollutants); and obtain knowledge of atmospheric chemical processes. Entering students should have basic quantitative skills (math and statistics) and completed courses in introductory hydrology (large-scale fluid motion) and chemistry. Learn more.

Hydrogeosciences and Water Resources
Students completing this track will gain knowledge and skills in measurement and modeling of primary hydrologic processes taking place at the atmosphere-surface interface (precipitation, energy balance), related to overland flows and sediment transport, and to vadose zone and groundwater flow and contaminant transport. Students will acquire experience in hydrologic site characterization and monitoring methods. Entering students should have basic quantitative skills (physics, math and statistics) and completed courses in introductory hydrology and geology. Learn more.

Contaminant Fate and Resource Recovery
The focus of this track is on the characterization and measurement of chemical, biological, physical and climatological processes that control the fate of contaminants in natural and engineered systems. Such processes also form the basis of technologies for the treatment and remediation of contaminants in aquatic systems and prevent contaminants from harming human health. In addition, such processes may constitute the basis for technologies that minimize human impact on the environment, including resource recovery and energy production. Students completing this track will gain knowledge and skills that will allow them to identify, quantify, and ultimately control, the biological, geological and chemical reactive processes in the environment in order to restore/maintain soil and water quality, protect human health and minimize resource utilization. Learn more.