POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY 2005-2007

CIVIL ENGINEERING PROGRAM
DOCTORAL PROGRAM
IN CIVIL ENGINEERING
The Department of Civil Engineering currently
offers two doctoral degree programs:
PhD in Civil Engineering and PhD in
Transportation Planning and Engineering.
Requirements for the Civil Engineering
degree are detailed here. For information
on the Transportation Planning and
Engineering program, see the
“Transportation” section of this catalog.
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
The PhD in Civil Engineering is a
research-oriented degree intended for
those whose goal is career in basic civil
engineering research and/or teaching at
the university level or in private research
organizations. Specific objectives of the
doctoral program are to develop the skills
and knowledge necessary to:
• Specialize within one of the sub-disciplines
of civil engineering
• Perform independent fundamental
research in one of the sub-disciplines
of civil engineering
• Produce a piece of fundamental
research that meaningfully advances
the state-of-the-art of one of the subdisciplines
of civil engineering, and is
publishable in a first-tier refereed civil
engineering-related journal
AREAS OF CONCENTRATION
Students pursuing the PhD in Civil
Engineering must choose to specialize in
one of the following sub-disciplines of
civil engineering:
• Structural materials and engineering.
• Geotechnical and geo-environmental
engineering.
• Environmental and water resources
engineering.
• Construction management and engineering.
• Highway and traffic engineering.
• Urban infrastructure systems engineering
and management.
Other focus areas are possible, and can be
developed with the assistance of faculty
advisers. All subject areas must be, of
course, relevant to the degree sought, and
there must be a faculty member who is
willing and able to guide the student’s
research.
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PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION
There are four graduate program coordinators
in the Department of Civil
Engineering:
• Graduate Program Coordinator for
Civil Engineering (MS& PhD)
• Graduate Program Coordinator
for Environmental Engineering/
Environmental Science (MS)
• Graduate Program Coordinator for
Urban Systems Engineering and
Management (MS)
• Graduate Program Coordinator for
Transportation (MS & PhD)
The graduate coordinators form the
departmental Graduate Committee. All
PhD applications are reviewed by the
Committee, and admissions decisions are
made by the Committee and implemented
by the appropriate graduate coordinator.
For each registration, the student’s
program must be approved by the
Academic Adviser, and signed by the
appropriate graduate coordinator.
ADMISSION CRITERIA
Admission to the PhD in Civil
Engineering requires an MS in Civil
Engineering or equivalent with a GPA of
3.5 or better (on a 0-4 scale).
Admission to PhD programs does not
require GRE’s (Graduate Record
Examination), but applicants are encouraged
to take these examinations. If these
examinations are taken, the student must
submit the results for consideration.
Foreign applicants must take the
TOEFL examination and submit the
results for consideration.
In the criteria above, the “equivalent”
can be achieved in several ways. The candidate
may have an MS degree with a different
title that covers substantially the
same material. In more general terms, the
applicant must demonstrate that he/she
has the equivalent of all undergraduate
and master’s level course work to be able
to pursue doctoral level work in the major
area chosen, as well as in a minor area
within the umbrella of civil engineering.
Further, “equivalence” is evaluated based
on the totality of the student’s undergraduate
and graduate record, not on a courseby-course
basis. Thus, an applicant who
wishes to pursue doctoral work in the
area of Environmental Engineering, for
example, must have all of the undergraduate
and master’s level course background
expected in Environmental
Engineering, but does not have to demonstrate
such a background in structures.
Because admission to a PhD program
requires an appropriate MS (or equivalent),
those applicants who have not yet
achieved a master’s degree would normally
be admitted as MS students. They
are expected to earn an MS degree while
completing their major and minor course
requirements. In rare cases, an applicant
with only a BS degree may be directly
admitted into the PhD program with the
written approval of the department head.
DOCTORAL COMMITTEES
Every PhD student is assigned an academic
adviser, who is assigned by the
department head upon admission. Any
member of the civil engineering faculty
can be an academic adviser to a graduate
student. In cases where a student is being
supported on a research contract, the
principal investigator of the contract
would normally be appointed as the academic
adviser for the student. Where a
student has a particular research interest
and is working with a particular faculty
member, the student may request that the
faculty member be appointed as his/her
academic adviser. In rare cases where a
PhD student enters the program without a
prior selection of a major area of study,
the initial academic adviser will be the
Graduate Coordinator of the appropriate
program area.
In the course of fulfilling their academic
requirements, PhD candidates, they will
deal with two advisory committees:
Academic Advisory Committee: The
student’s Academic Adviser works out
an appropriate program of courses to
fulfill major and minor requirements for
the PhD The Academic Advisory
Committee generally will consist of the
Academic Adviser and one faculty
member for each minor area of study.
The Academic Advisory Committee
guides the PhD student’s work through
the successful completion of a qualifying
examination. A letter signed by the
academic adviser and approved by the
department head is placed in the student’s
file indicating the composition of
the Academic Advisory Committee.
Dissertation Committee: The Dissertation
Committee is formed immediately after
the student passes the qualifying examination.
It consists of a major adviser, a
dissertation adviser, and a minor adviser
for each minor the student has pursued.
Additional faculty members may also be