Civil & Environmental Engineering (Ph.D.)

The goal of the Civil and Environmental Engineering program is to elucidate civil and environmental engineering technology by involving students in the design and construction of sustainable infrastructure projects that emphasize safety and public health. Our graduates enhance the quality of life for people both locally and around the world by providing safe structures such as bridges, highways, skyscrapers, tunnels and dams, and by helping to restore and maintain water quality and the environment. Civil Engineering has always been an exciting yet flexible profession filled with opportunities.

Following admission into the program, a guidance committee is appointed for the student by the dean of the Graduate School upon recommendation of the advisor and graduate coordinator. This committee assists in outlining the student's course of study and may specify individual coursework requirements. The guidance committee administers the qualifying examination.

The student must pass a qualifying exam that includes both a written and an oral component. The content of the qualifying exam will be determined at the discretion of the guidance committee and will be based on the coursework (both graduate and undergraduate) completed to date. The qualifying exam is pass/fail. At the discretion of the guidance committee a student may conditionally pass the exam and be reevaluated after a specified time period. The qualifying exam must be completed within 18 months of admission for students that have a master’s degree and within 30 months of admission for students that enter the PhD program with only a bachelor’s degree.

Course Credit Requirements: The student must successfully complete at least 42 graded course credit hours beyond a bachelor’s degree. These 42 course credit requirements can include 2 courses (up to 8 credits) from the accelerated masters program. Additional course credits beyond these minimum levels may be required by the guidance committee.

Requirements for Optional Minor: An identifiable group of courses (9 credits minimum) in an area outside of the civil engineering department and approved by the guidance committee must be successfully completed to provide a minor to the Ph.D. degree. A minor may be satisfied by courses taken toward a master's degree other than civil engineering, but the credits will not be applied against the 42 credit-­hour minimum.

Professional Outreach Experience: A minimum of one semester as a teaching assistant or comparable experience, or preparation and submission of article(s) to refereed journal(s), or presentations at professional meetings is required. The guidance committee will evaluate whether a student's past teaching assistantship satisfies this requirement.

Doctoral Candidates: Upon successful completion of the Ph.D. qualifying examination, a doctoral student is advanced to the status of doctoral candidate. When a student achieves candidacy, a doctoral committee is established. The doctoral committee reviews research, reviews the student's progress, supervises and approves the doctoral dissertation, and administers the final examination (also known as the dissertation defense). The student must present and defend a research proposal within 6 months of achieving candidacy and no later than one year prior to the dissertation defense.

Upon completion of the dissertation, and with the approval of the doctoral committee, the student schedules an oral defense in accordance with the requirements of the Graduate School. For graduation, a B average (3.00 GPA) and successful dissertation defense must be achieved.

• Identify and use advanced mathematical, computational, design, and/or experimental skills to solve complex civil and environmental engineering problems;
• Demonstrate advanced technical knowledge in a specialty discipline area within civil and environmental engineering;
• Demonstrate advanced research skills in identifying the state of the art and research needs, formulate hypotheses, design and conduct experiments, collect and analyze data, and interpret results;
• Draw on previously published results to propose, plan, and execute an independent research project that makes original and substantial contributions to advance the discipline;
• Effectively communicate and defend technical ideas, designs, or research results in oral form to technical and non-technical audiences;
• Lead the writing of manuscripts describing research results, and its impacts, in a form suitable for publication in peer-reviewed journals or another appropriate professional outlet;
• Understand and communicate how knowledge and research relate to a broader context outside of academia and the specific discipline; and
• Recognize ethical and professional responsibilities in engineering situations and make informed judgments, which must consider the impact of sustainable engineering solutions in global, social, economic, public policy, and environmental issues.

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Deadlines

Applications must be completed by the following deadlines in order to be reviewed for admission:

• Fall: Jan. 15 (for funding); April 1 (recommended US; final international); July 1 (final)
• Spring: Oct. 15 (for funding); Dec. 1
• Summer: N/A
• Special: N/A

Application fee: $65

Campus: Durham

New England Regional: No

Accelerated Masters Eligible: No

New Hampshire Residents

Students claiming in-state residency must also submit a Proof of Residence Form. This form is not required to complete your application, but you will need to submit it after you are offered admission, or you will not be able to register for classes.

Transcripts

If you attended UNH or Granite State College (GSC) after September 1, 1991, and have indicated so on your online application, we will retrieve your transcript internally; this includes UNH-Durham, UNH-Manchester, UNH Non-Degree work and GSC. 

If you did not attend UNH, or attended prior to September 1, 1991, then you must upload a copy (PDF) of your transcript in the application form. International transcripts must be translated into English.

If admitted, you must then request an official transcript be sent directly to our office from the Registrar's Office of each college/university attended. We accept transcripts both electronically and in hard copy:

• Electronic Transcripts: Please have your institution send the transcript directly to grad.school@unh.edu. Please note that we can only accept copies sent directly from the institution.
• Paper Transcripts: Please send hard copies of transcripts to: UNH Graduate School, Thompson Hall- 105 Main Street, Durham, NH 03824. You may request transcripts be sent to us directly from the institution or you may send them yourself as long as they remain sealed in the original university envelope.

Transcripts from all previous post-secondary institutions must be submitted and applicants must disclose any previous academic or disciplinary sanctions that resulted in their temporary or permanent separation from a previous post-secondary institution. If it is found that previous academic or disciplinary separations were not disclosed, applicants may face denial and admitted students may face dismissal from their academic program.

Letters of recommendation: 3 required

Recommendation letters submitted by relatives or friends, as well as letters older than one year, will not be accepted.

GRE Optional

The GRE scores are optional, if you wish to provide scores please email the scores directly to the department once you have submitted your application online.

Personal Statement/Essay Questions

Prepare a brief but careful statement regarding:

1. Reasons you wish to do graduate work in this field, including your immediate and long-range objectives.
2. Your specific research or professional interest and experiences in this field.

Important Notes

All applicants are encouraged to contact programs directly to discuss program-specific application questions.

International Applicants

Prospective international students are required to submit TOEFL, IELTS, or equivalent examination scores. English Language Exams may be waived if English is your first language. If you wish to request a waiver, then please visit our Test Scores webpage for more information.