Doctor of Philosophy in Civil Engineering

This is a joint program with the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH). A typical student enters the program with an undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering from an ABET-accredited program. Students with outstanding records in related fields or from non-accredited engineering programs will be considered for admission on conditional standing and must remedy deficiencies in their preparation after the start of their academic program. They may then be granted unconditional standing in the doctoral program.

The Ph.D. program is intended for students who have achieved high levels of scholarship and are capable of conducting independent and original research. Ph.D. students in civil engineering will work closely with faculty in the Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, but they may also work on interdisciplinary teams with faculty from other UAB departments as well as outside industry.

The program requires 48 credit hours of coursework beyond the baccalaureate level or 24 credit hours of coursework beyond the master’s degree, plus a minimum of 24 credit hours of dissertation research.

Admission

Admission into the Ph.D. program requires the graduate student to enroll through the UAB Graduate School. Completed applications are reviewed by the Civil Engineering graduate program committee.

Requirements

Program requirements and course descriptions can be found in the UAB Graduate Catalog.

A comprehensive examination is required of all doctoral candidates. This exam is given after:

1. all coursework is completed, and
2. the student’s Graduate Committee, which consists of faculty representatives from both campuses, deems the student to have adequate preparation in the major and minor fields of study.

The examination is conducted by the Graduate Committee and administered on the resident campus. The examination consists of a written part and an oral part. The student presents a dissertation proposal during the oral portion of the examination. The comprehensive examination may only be taken twice.

After successfully passing the exam and defense, the graduate student will then enter into doctoral candidacy. Doctoral candidates must complete a minimum of 24 hours of dissertation research and then develop a dissertation for review by the dissertation committee. The candidate must also present an oral public defense of their dissertation. If the defense is successful, the student then has 10 working days to revise the dissertation and submit its approved form to the Graduate School.

Questions?

For more information on the Ph.D. program, contact Nasim Uddin, Ph.D., Professor and director of the graduate program, at (205) 934-8432 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..