construction engineers discussing construction project

Ph.D. in Civil Engineering

Doctor of Philosophy

Lead the way in ideating, designing and building tomorrow’s infrastructure, or educating future engineers.

Infrastructure has reached a tipping point where aging buildings, bridges, highways, waterways and other structures urgently need technical civil engineering expertise and new ideas to solve today’s challenges. A doctoral degree from UND offers the knowledge and skills you need to elevate your civil engineering skills and knowledge for greater opportunities in private and public sectors, or education.

Program type:
Doctoral Degree
Format:
On Campus or Online
Est. time to complete:
4 - 5 years
Credit hours:
90

Why earn a Ph.D. in civil engineering?

Application Deadlines
Fall:
Aug. 1
Spring:
Dec. 1
Summer:
May 1

If you're an international student, refer to the international application process for deadlines.

Civil engineers experience no shortage of exciting challenges, growth prospects and a wide range of fascinating specialties to choose from. For those pursuing academia, the opportunity to shape and mold future engineering minds will have an enormous impact on tomorrow's infrastructure designs and structures.

This UND graduate program offers the highest advanced study in civil engineering with opportunities to either choose a career path aimed at a senior-level manager or research leader position, or as an educator in higher education. You'll gain the highest level of skills and expertise related to your chosen specialty or area. Most Civil Engineering Ph.D students are funded by GRA/GTA and provided with tuition waivers.

UND's Ph.D. in Civil Engineering

  • Elevate your skills with specialized training customized to meet your interests and goals.

  • Gain a broad-based education with a curriculum that includes traditional study, multidisciplinary exposure and high-quality research.

  • Work with a committed faculty team to discover the area of most interest, and explore research and opportunities.

  • Study at a Carnegie Doctoral Research Institution ranked #151 by the NSF. Students are an integral part of UND research.

  • Enhance your professional skills at 60+ free workshops offered through the UND School of Graduate Studies. Our goal is to provide you with the workforce skills and job search strategies to succeed.

  • Gain a competitive edge through UND's Accelerate to Industry (A2i)™ program. This workforce readiness program provides immersive job training for graduate students and postdoctoral researchers. It is one of only 30 programs nationwide.

What can you do with a Ph.D. in civil engineering?

Students gain the fullest understanding of engineering design with the advanced skills that many global companies in the public and private sector value in their search for top civil engineering talent. For those seeking a career in academia, a Ph.D. offers the ideal path to success.

UND graduates can expect a range of opportunities in many specialties such as:

  • Structural
  • Project Management
  • Construction
  • Environmental
  • Transportation
  • Geotechnical

UND Civil Engineering alumni have gone on to a variety of successful careers with:

  • AE2S
  • Kadrmas, Lee & Jackson, Inc.
  • WSB & Associates, Inc.
  • Bolton & Menk, Inc.
  • Burns & McDonnell, Inc.

Ph.D. in Civil Engineering Courses

CE 502. Structural Stability. 3 Credits.

Concept of stability; equilibrium and energy methods; stability of columns, beam columns, and frames; inelastic buckling; stability by slope deflection and matrix methods; use of codes for the stability design of aluminum and steel columns and frames; torsional and lateral torsional buckling of beams and beam columns. Prerequisite: Background/knowledge of mechanics of materials; additional information is available in the CE Graduate Student Handbook on the CE Department website and the CE graduate student blackboard site. On demand.

CE 503. Structural Dynamics. 3 Credits.

Single-degree and multi-degree of freedom systems; continuous systems; free and forced vibrations; harmonic and periodic excitations; viscous and non-viscous damping; pulse excitations; numerical methods for dynamic response; earthquake response of linear elastic buildings; structural dynamics in building codes. Prerequisite: Background/knowledge of mechanics of materials and dynamics; additional information is available in the CE Graduate Student Handbook on the CE Department website and the CE graduate student blackboard site. On demand.

CE 517. Transportation Asset Management. 3 Credits.

Course focused on the principles of transportation asset management with an emphasis on pavement management system (PMS). Network- and project-level pavement management processes will be discussed, but the emphasis will be on network-level. Bridge management system will also be covered. Prerequisite: Background/knowledge of mechanics of materials and statistics; additional information is available in the CE Graduate Student Handbook on the CE Department website and the CE graduate student blackboard site. F, even years.

CE 518. Pavement Engineering. 3 Credits.

Structural pavement design concepts for flexible and rigid pavements; traffic and environmental loading factors; material characterization; hot mix asphalt design and analysis concepts, SuperPave mix design method, stresses and strains in flexible and rigid pavements, joints and load transfer of rigid pavements, fast track concrete, and construction issues. Prerequisite: Background/knowledge of soil mechanics; additional information is available in the CE Graduate Student Handbook on the CE Department website and graduate student blackboard site; consent of instructor for undergraduate students. F.

CE 524. Open Channel Hydraulics. 3 Credits.

Study of advanced topics in open channel hydraulics. Computer applications. Prerequisite: Background/knowledge of hydraulic engineering; additional information is available in the CE Graduate Student Handbook on the CE Department website and the CE graduate student blackboard site. F.

CE 536. Environmental Engineering III. 3 Credits.

Water chemistry in unit Operation and process design for water and wastewater treatment; physical, chemical, and biological systems; plant design project, computer-assigned design analysis. Prerequisite: Background/knowledge of introductory environmental engineering; additional information is available in the CE Graduate Student Handbook on the CE Department website and the CE graduate student blackboard site. F.

Explore More Options

Check out the faculty you'll work with at UND or discover additional education opportunities.

Department Contact
Yeo Howe Lim
Graduate Director
P 701.777.3998
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