Doctor of Philosophy in Civil Engineering

The Ph.D. program is intended for students who have achieved high levels of scholarship and can conduct 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 may also work on interdisciplinary teams with faculty from other UAB departments as well as outside industry. This is a cooperative program with the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH).

Admission

Applicants holding a bachelor’s or master’s degree in civil engineering or a closely related discipline will be considered for admission. Exceptional candidates who do not meet this criterion may be considered for admission and could be required to complete additional undergraduate or graduate coursework.

Interested students can apply through the UAB Graduate School. 

Requirements

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

The program requires 48 credit hours of coursework beyond the baccalaureate level or 27 credit hours of coursework beyond the master’s degree, plus a minimum of 24 credit hours of dissertation research.

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 student’s Graduate Committee and 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 dissertation proposal defense, the graduate student will then enter doctoral candidacy. Doctoral candidates must complete a minimum of 24 hours of dissertation research and 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..