Master of Philosophy in Civil Engineering
Doctor of Philosophy in Civil Engineering
MPhil(CIVL)
PhD(CIVL)
Both full- and part-time
MPhil
Full-time : 2 years
Part-time : 4 years
PhD
Full-time : 3 years (with a relevant research master’s degree), 4 years (without a relevant research master’s degree)
Part-time : 6 years
PG Programs Coordinator:
Prof Mengqian LU, Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Applicants may apply for individual concentration(s) specified in the “Concentration” tab.
The Master of Philosophy (MPhil) Program focuses on strengthening students' knowledge in certain areas of Civil Engineering and exposing them to the issues involved in the conception, design, construction, maintenance, and use of structures and facilities. A candidate for an MPhil degree is expected to demonstrate knowledge in the discipline and to synthesize and create new knowledge, making a contribution to the field.
The Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Program aims at developing the skills needed to identify issues related to Civil Engineering and the ability to formulate and propose solutions to a problem in an independent manner. A candidate for a PhD degree is expected to demonstrate mastery of knowledge in the chosen discipline and to synthesize and create new knowledge, making an original and substantial contribution to the discipline.
On successful completion of the MPhil program, graduates will be able to:
- Acquire advanced knowledge in mathematics and science on which civil engineering research and practice are based;
- Acquire the ability to independently and ethically plan and conduct experiments, produce original experimental data and analyze and interpret the results;
- Acquire and further enhance an ability to develop and apply modern engineering and IT tools effectively and efficiently for engineering analysis, design, research and communication;
- Develop an ability to identify and formulate civil engineering problems, and propose feasible solutions with an appreciation of their underlying assumptions, uncertainties, constraints, and technical limitations within a multidisciplinary research environment;
- Develop technical competency to analyze and design civil engineering components and systems, with an in-depth understanding of the principles behind the design methodologies;
- Contribute cutting edge knowledge in at least one major area of specialization within civil engineering and demonstrate the ability to evaluate one’s own contribution to the field; and
- Develop an ability to teach a subject, communicate and present ideas effectively, including oral, written, and technical writing skills, and to function effectively within and among teams with a variety of backgrounds and interests.
On successful completion of the PhD program, graduates will be able to:
- Acquire advanced knowledge in mathematics and science on which civil engineering research and practice are based;
- Acquire the ability to independently and ethically plan and conduct experiments, produce original experimental data and analyze and interpret the results;
- Acquire and further enhance an ability to develop and apply modern engineering and IT tools effectively and efficiently for engineering analysis, design, research and communication;
- Develop an ability to identify and formulate civil engineering problems, and propose feasible solutions with an appreciation of their underlying assumptions, uncertainties, constraints, and technical limitations within a multidisciplinary research environment;
- Develop technical competency to analyze and design civil engineering components and systems, with an in-depth understanding of the principles behind the design methodologies;
- Contribute cutting edge knowledge in at least one major area of specialization within civil engineering and demonstrate the ability to evaluate one’s own contribution to the field; and
- Develop an ability to teach a subject, communicate and present ideas effectively, including oral, written, and technical writing skills, and to function effectively within and among teams with a variety of backgrounds and interests.
The programs are offered by the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering with the following research foci and state-of-the-art facilities. The programs aim to provide students with the knowledge at the forefront of the field, so as to help minimize environmental hazards and improve the quality of people’s lives.
Research Foci
GREAT Smart Cities
One major research focus of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at HKUST is on GREAT Smart Cities. The acronym GREAT stands for:
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Green: cities planned with due considerations for life-cycle environmental impacts, natural resources consumption (e.g. air, water, energy, materials) and wastes generation and treatment;
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Resilient: cities developed with infrastructure capacities and system redundancies to manage disruptions without severely affecting their essential functioning;
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Empowering: cities designed for people, empowering well-being, efficiency, innovation, and productive partnerships;
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Adaptable: cities designed with their infrastructure and systems adaptable to changes in new technology (e.g. autonomous vehicles) and global warming; and
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Transformative: cities designed for empowering their institutions and citizens to define and reposition their growth directions and strategies.
Our objectives are to develop and apply smart tools for the context of GREAT infrastructure planning and development. Through the establishment of a broad platform for developing large-scale projects and inter-disciplinary collaborations, jointly we will do GREAT things for future cities.
Next Generation Infrastructure
Building information modelling (BIM), modular structures, robotically constructed and 3D printed structures, green bio-composite structures, sensors and smart structures for resilience, smart and sustainable built environment, building-system design and analysis, monitoring and analysis of highway bridges, wind and seismic engineering, geotechnical engineering, transportation system modeling and operation, integrated risk and reliability assessment, and infrastructure system enhancement.
Slope Safety in Changing Climate
Slope failure mechanisms, multi-scale numerical methods, green risk mitigation measures, AI assisted monitoring system, landslide risk analysis and management, and landslide early warning.
Green Building and Intelligent Construction Materials
Green building design standards, eco-friendly materials and technologies, cement-based functional materials, recycling of construction materials, green retrofit and renovation technologies, optimization of energy and water usage, and nanotechnology in concrete design.
Environmental, Water Resources and Energy Studies
Innovative physical, chemical and biological water and wastewater treatment processes, environmental quality management, remediation of contaminated soils and groundwater, mixing and transport phenomena of pollutants in natural and man-made systems, water resources management and engineering, stochastic optimization of water quality and resources and environmental fluid mechanics.
Climate change modelling, carbon zero, decarbonization, energy harvesting, and clean energy.
Facilities
The Department supports an excellent range of facilities comprising laboratories for structural engineering, construction materials, geotechnical engineering, environmental engineering, fluid mechanics, intelligent transportation systems, computation, and surveying. All are equipped to the highest standards with advanced instrumentation available. The Geotechnical Centrifuge Facility is equipped with a 400 g-ton beam centrifuge with hydraulic biaxial shaking table and a 4-axis robotic manipulator, as well as a newly installed 870 g-ton drum centrifuge. The Aerodynamics and Acoustics Facility houses an advanced 2.5m x 2m low-noise wind tunnel.
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Minimum Credit Requirement
MPhil: 12 credits
PhD: 24 credits
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Credit Transfer
PhD students with a master’s degree may be granted credit transfer of up to 12 credits, subject to approval.
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Required Courses
MPhil: 12 credits of approved coursework
PhD: 24 credits of approved coursework
PhD students are required to obtain a GGA of 3.150 for graduation.
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School Requirements on PhD Programs
In addition to the program requirements, all full-time and part-time PhD students are required to complete the school requirements, which aim to help students gain a wider exposure to multidisciplinary areas, and attain all-rounded learning by broadening their knowledge base.
PhD students are required to take at least a 3-credit course at 5000-level or above outside their programs offered by the School of Engineering. The 3 credits may be satisfied by courses from other Schools upon approval.
In some exceptional cases where students can provide sufficient justifications and obtain prior approval from their supervisors, PG Coordinators, and Heads of Department/Program Directors or designees, they are allowed to take the 3-credit course within their home departments/programs but the course must be in areas outside their specialty.
Details of the requirements are available on the website of the School of Engineering.
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Graduate Teaching Assistant Training
All full-time RPg students are required to complete PDEV 6800. The course is composed of a 10-hour training offered by the Center for Education Innovation (CEI), and session(s) of instructional delivery to be assigned by the respective departments. Upon satisfactory completion of the training conducted by CEI, MPhil students are required to give at least one 30-minute session of instructional delivery in front of a group of students for one term. PhD students are required to give at least one such session each in two different terms. The instructional delivery will be formally assessed.
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Professional Development Course Requirement
Students are required to complete PDEV 6770. The 1 credit earned from PDEV 6770 cannot be counted toward the credit requirements.
PhD students who are HKUST MPhil graduates and have completed PDEV 6770 or other professional development courses offered by the University before may be exempted from taking PDEV 6770, subject to prior approval of the School.
Students are required to complete ENGG 6780. The 1 credit earned from ENGG 6780 cannot be counted toward the credit requirements.
PhD students who are HKUST MPhil graduates and have completed ENGG 6780 before may be exempted from taking ENGG 6780, subject to prior approval of the School.
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English Language Requirement
Full-time RPg students are required to take an English Language Proficiency Assessment (ELPA) Speaking Test administered by the Center for Language Education before the start of their first term of study. Students whose ELPA Speaking Test score is below Level 4, or who failed to take the test in their first term of study, are required to take LANG 5000 until they pass the course by attaining at least Level 4 in the ELPA Speaking Test before graduation. The 1 credit earned from LANG 5000 cannot be counted toward the credit requirements.
Full-time students are required to complete LANG 5005 and advised to complete it in the first year of study. The 1 credit earned from LANG 5005 cannot be counted toward the program credit requirements. Students may be considered for exemption from this course, subject to the approval of the Department Head and/or PG Coordinator/Program Director.
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Postgraduate Seminars
MPhil:
Full-time students are required to take and pass CIVL 6050 at least twice, and CIVL 6060 at least once.
PhD:
Full-time students are required to take and pass CIVL 6050 at least four times. All students, regardless of study mode, are required to take and pass CIVL 6060 at least twice.
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PhD Qualifying Examination
To become a doctoral candidate, a student must pass a qualifying examination. Full-time PhD students are expected to pass the qualifying examination within 18 months of initial registration while part-time PhD students are expected to pass the qualifying examination within 36 months of initial registration. A maximum postponement of 3 months may be allowed, subject to prior approval from the departmental PG Committee.
The qualifying examination consists of both written and oral examinations. The written examination evaluates the student’s comprehension of scientific and engineering principles and engineering synthesis, and the student’s preparation for postgraduate study. Prior to undertaking the examinations, each PhD student will have prepared a written thesis research proposal, and will orally present and defend it. In addition, the student will answer questions of a general civil engineering nature and questions relevant to the proposed research.
Following the above, the Qualifying Examination Committee will recommend that (1) the student has passed the qualifying examination and is a candidate for the degree; or (2) the student should undertake further studies to rectify deficiencies uncovered in the examination but may continue with the research component without another written or oral examination, and upon successful completion of these further studies, the student will automatically become a candidate for the degree; or (3) the student should undertake further studies and must repeat the written and/or oral component within 6 months; or (4) the student has failed and must withdraw from the PhD program.
Students who fail the qualifying examination for the second time will be required to withdraw from the PhD program or, with the special approval of the departmental PG Committee, be allowed to transfer to the MPhil program.
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Thesis Research
MPhil
- Registration in CIVL 6990; and
- Presentation and oral defense of the MPhil thesis.
PhD
- Registration in CIVL 7990; and
- Presentation and oral defense of the PhD thesis.
Each student shall submit a thesis demonstrating competence in engineering research. The work described must have been substantially completed subsequent to enrollment for the degree. The thesis should reach a satisfactory standard of expression and presentation, and consist of an account of the student’s own research. The student may not submit as the main content of the thesis any work or material which has previously been submitted for a university degree or some other similar awards.
Last update: 1 June 2023
- Energy Technology Concentration
In addition to the existing program requirements, students who opt for the Energy Technology concentration are required to:
- Take one ENEG course.
- Complete ENEG 6010 for one term. They can use ENEG 6010 to replace one term of registration of CIVL 6050.
- Conduct research in energy area.
- Nanotechnology Concentration
In addition to the existing program requirements, students who opt for the Energy Technology concentration are required to:
- Take one NANO course.
- Complete NANO 6010 for one term.
- Conduct research in nano area.
- Scientific Computation Concentration
In addition to the existing program requirements, students who opt for the Scientific Computation concentration are required to:
- MPhil:
Complete a minimum of 7 credits from the following course lists.
PhD:
Complete a minimum of 10 credits from the following course lists.
The credits earned under the concentration will be counted toward the total credit requirements of the programs.
All students must take MATH 6915 and MATH 6916. Credits earned from MATH 6915 can be repeated for up to 2 credits.
All students must take at least one course of other departments (excluding MATH 6915 and MATH 6916) or one CSIC course.
Elective Courses
- Conduct research in the area of scientific computation.
To qualify for admission, applicants must meet all of the following requirements. Admission is selective and meeting these minimum requirements does not guarantee admission.
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Applicants seeking admission to a master's degree program should have obtained a bachelor’s degree from a recognized institution, or an approved equivalent qualification;
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Applicants seeking admission to a doctoral degree program should have obtained a bachelor’s degree with a proven record of outstanding performance from a recognized institution; or presented evidence of satisfactory work at the postgraduate level on a full-time basis for at least one year, or on a part-time basis for at least two years.
Applicants have to fulfill English Language requirements with one of the following proficiency attainments:
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TOEFL-iBT: 80 *
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TOEFL-pBT: 550
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TOEFL-Revised paper-delivered test: 60 (total scores for Reading, Listening and Writing sections)
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IELTS (Academic Module): Overall score: 6.5 and All sub-score: 5.5 *
* Refers to scores in one single attempt only. Test at home option is not accepted.
Applicants are not required to present TOEFL or IELTS score if
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their first language is English, or
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they obtained the bachelor's degree (or equivalent) from an institution where the medium of instruction was English.
Apply online before the application deadlines.
HK$180
For Hong Kong PhD Fellowship (HKPFS) Application (for PhD studies only):
Step 1 deadline at RGC (to obtain an HKPFS reference no. from RGC):
1 Dec 2024 (12noon, GMT+8)
Step 2 deadline at HKUST:
1 Dec 2024 (11:59pm, GMT+8)
Details please refer to https://fytgs.hkust.edu.hk/hkpfs
For 2025/26 Fall Term Intake (commencing in Sep 2025):
Non-local Applicants*
Full-time: 1 Jun 2025
Local Applicants
Full-time: 15 Jul 2025
Part-time: 15 Jul 2025
For 2024/25 Spring Term Intake (commencing in Feb 2025):
Non-local Applicants*
Full-time: 1 Nov 2024
Local Applicants
Full-time: 15 Dec 2024
Part-time: 15 Dec 2024
Applicants who would like to apply for the following concentration(s) should apply for the respective program choice(s) in the Online Admission System:
Civil Engineering - Energy Technology Concentration
Civil Engineering - Nanotechnology Concentration
Civil Engineering - Scientific Computation Concentration
* Applicants are considered as non-local students if they hold (i) student visa/ entry permit; or (ii) visa under the Immigration Arrangements for Non-local Graduates (IANG); or (iii) dependent visa/entry permit who were 18 years old or above when they were issued with such visa/ entry permit by the Director of Immigration. For details on student visa/ entry permit requirements, please click here.
