PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering
The PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering (PhD-CEE) is a comprehensive program that equips students with a strong foundation and opportunities to conduct innovative research that incorporates elements of sustainability, resiliency, security, digitization, and robustness. Guided by world-class faculty at the forefront of their fields, students benefit from a dynamic research environment and collaborations with top academic, industry and government organizations to advance their expertise and pursue groundbreaking discoveries.
The program is taught in English and is composed of three phases:
- core course, which includes a research methods course related to key aspects of theoretical and applied research
- elective courses designed to suit the research interests of candidates with the aim of strengthening their knowledge in their area of research
- a doctoral dissertation, allowing students to develop cutting-edge research competencies and generate original scientific work that can be published in reputed international journals
Find out more about why AUS is the UAE’s top choice for studying civil engineering here.
The mission of the PhD-CEE program is to educate future researchers, academics and professionals with advanced knowledge, skills, and techniques, preparing them for impactful careers in academia, government, and industry. The program strives to make significant contributions to the advancement of civil and environmental engineering through rigorous research, innovation and ethical practice fostering resilience and sustainability in the built environment.
The Department of Civil Engineering provides a professional environment that fosters fairness, ethics, diversity, faculty development, quality research, and outreach with industry and public agencies.
Graduates of the PhD-CEE program will be prepared to:
- contribute to the advancement of knowledge in civil and environmental engineering through original research
- be successful professionals in a specialized area of civil and environmental engineering
- uphold the ethical standards and professional responsibility of the civil and environmental engineering practice and research
Upon successful completion of this program, students will be able to:
- develop advanced research emphasizing creativity, independent learning, and scientific methods
- apply advanced tools and techniques of civil and environmental engineering to solve complex technical and scientific problems
- effectively communicate and disseminate research outcomes in both written and oral formats
- demonstrate ethical and professional responsibility and an understanding of sustainability challenges in civil and environmental engineering
The program admits both part-time and full-time students. Full-time students may be considered for a competitive full graduate assistantship for the duration of the program.
Applicants to the PhD-CEE degree program must:
- hold a master’s degree from an independently accredited university recognized by the UAE Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research and by AUS. Applicants with a master’s degree obtained outside the UAE must submit a Certificate of Equivalency or a Qualification Recognition report of their degree from the UAE Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research.
- have achieved a minimum master’s degree cumulative grade point average (CGPA) of 3.0 (on a scale of 4.00) or its equivalent.
- have attained a minimum iBT score of 80 or a minimum IELTS score of 6.5 (Academic Version) or a minimum EmSAT (Achieve English) score of 1550
In addition to meeting the university's general requirements for admission to PhD degree programs, applicants to the PhD-CEE degree program are required to have completed a master of science degree in civil engineering, construction engineering and management, environmental engineering or related areas from an independently accredited university recognized by the UAE Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research and by AUS.
For more information on admission requirements and the application process, please click here.
Apply now for our Doctor of Philosophy in Civil and Environmental Engineering program.
To qualify for graduation with a PhD-CEE degree, students must successfully complete a minimum of 54 credit hours with a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.00, as follows:
- a minimum of 24 credit hours (eight courses) of required and elective coursework:
- three credit hours in one required course
- a minimum of 21 credit hours (seven courses) of elective courses
- a zero-credit hour seminar
- a zero-credit qualifying examination
- a minimum of 30 credit hours of research work (dissertation)
The expected minimum duration for completion of the PhD-CEE degree program is four years. All graduation requirements must be completed within 10 years of admission to AUS as a doctoral student, inclusive of any leave, and graduation residence requirements must be met. For details, refer to the graduate catalog.
Required Courses
Students must successfully complete the following required courses:
- CEE 700 Research Methods in Civil and Environmental Engineering
- CEE 790 Qualifying Examination
- CEE 795 Doctoral Seminar
- CEE 799 Doctoral Dissertation (for a minimum of 30 credits)
Elective Courses
Students must successfully complete a minimum of seven courses (for a minimum of 21 credit hours) selected from the following list and subject to the approval of the Program Coordinator.
- CEE 710 Earthquake-Resistant Structural Design (3-0-3)
- CEE 712 Structural Fire Protection Engineering (3-0-3)
- CEE 713 Structural Safety and Reliability (3-0-3)
- CEE 714 Advanced sustainable concrete technology (3-0-3)
- CEE 717 Design of Sustainable Reinforced Concrete Structures (3-0-3)
- CEE 718 Advanced Reinforced Concrete Design (3-0-3)
- CEE 730 Soil Stabilization and Site Improvement (3-0-3)
- CEE 731 Advanced Foundation Engineering (3-0-3)
- CEE 732 Advances in Geoenvironmental Engineering (3-0-3)
- CEE 740 Sustainable and Resilient Water Distribution Systems (3-0-3)
- CEE 751 Emerging pollutants and Water Treatment (3-0-3)
- CEE 752 Membrane Technology for Water Treatment (3-0-3)
- CEE 753 Waste to Energy Technologies (3-0-3)
- CEE 760 Construction Project Delivery Systems (3-0-3)
- CEE 761 Lean Construction (3-0-3)
- CEE 770 Geoinformatics (3-0-3)
- CEE 772 Transportation Systems Operations (3-0-3)
- CEE 773 Planning of Sustainable Transportation Systems
- CEE 794 Special Topics in Civil and Environmental Engineering (3-0-3)
With the approval of the Program Coordinator and the student’s advisor, a student may choose to take up to two elective courses outside of the list of elective courses.
Qualifying Exam
Students in the program must pass the qualifying examination. A student may choose to do the examination in two of the following civil and environmental engineering areas: structures and materials, geotechnical, transportation and geoinformatics, construction engineering and management, and environmental engineering and water resources. For more information, please see the graduate catalog.
PhD Dissertation
Students must successfully prepare and defend a research dissertation that contributes to creating new knowledge in the field. For more information, please see the graduate catalog.
|
Name |
PhD Specialization |
Areas of Professional Expertise |
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Civil Engineering (Structures) |
Computer-aided analysis and design of structures, earthquake engineering and structural dynamics and materials |
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Civil Engineering (Transportation) |
Intelligent transportation systems applications, dynamic traffic assignment, traffic signal design and operations, traffic flow theory, and operations research applications in transportation networks |
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Civil Engineering (Structures/Mechanics) |
Computational solids and structural mechanics, nonlinear finite element analysis, constitutive modeling, damage mechanics, impact, composites |
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Civil Engineering (Geodetic Science and Surveying) |
GIScience, LiDAR mapping, mobile and internet-based GIS, coastal mapping and GIS, applications of GIS/remote sensing in environmental and transportation engineering, wide-area GPS networks, and infrastructure monitoring/surveillance |
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Civil Engineering (Structures) |
Nonlinear structural dynamic response analysis and modeling, passive control and supplemental damping devices, computer-aided design and simulation, nonlinear finite element methods, soil-structure-interaction, structural optimization, experimental analysis of full-scale structures as well as components and materials, development of new materials in seismic design and retrofit, fiber-reinforced concrete |
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Civil Engineering (Structures) |
3D concrete printing, green buildings, high performance concrete design and applications in harsh environments, sustainability/green buildings design, safety, composite materials |
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Civil Engineering (Water Resources) |
River engineering, catchment flood management plans, strategic flood risk management, channel resistance, boundary shear stress distributions, overbank flow, flood hydraulics, sediment mechanics, hydraulic structures at high flow, bridges and environmental hydrology and modeling |
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Civil Engineering (Geotechnical) |
Soil behavior, soil erosion, soil stabilization, expansive soil and soil testing |
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Civil Engineering (Geotechnical) |
Geosynthetics behaviors and its applications in geotechnical engineering, static and seismic analysis of reinforced-soil retaining walls and embankments, static and dynamic tests for soil properties and behaviors, numerical and experimental modeling of geomaterials and composites, analysis, behaviors and testing methods of saturated and unsaturated soils |
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Civil Engineering (Construction Management) |
Construction and project management, project time and cost control, construction contracting, project risk management, sustainable construction management |
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Civil Engineering (Structures) |
Structural and computational mechanics, finite element analysis, seismic analysis and design of hybrid precast/prestressed concrete frames and walls, composite structures, strengthening and rehabilitation of structures, structural fire resistance, nonlinear thermal stress analysis and fire performance of structural members |
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Civil Engineering (Construction Management) |
Public-private partnerships, integrated project delivery, digital twins, lean construction, energy efficiency measures |
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Civil Engineering (Environment) |
Water distribution systems, water treatment, recycling of solid waste management, water quality management in coastal water, and water infrastructure management |
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Civil Engineering (Structures) |
Structural reliability, finite element modeling, bridge engineering, experimental testing of structural steel and reinforced concrete elements |
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Civil Engineering (Structures) |
Research interests include behavior of reinforced and prestressed concrete, composite structures, special concrete, and infrastructure management systems |
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Chemical Engineering |
Vapor-liquid equilibria, computational thermodynamics and separation processes, refrigeration, modeling and simulation of chemical and environmental processes, water and membrane technology |
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Chemical Engineering |
Waste to energy via gasification and pyrolysis, computational fluid dynamic modeling of multiphase flow, hydrogen production, solar thermochemical conversion, production of biochar, applications of fluidized bed reactors, biofuels and high value products from algae and adsorption/desorption processes |
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Chemical Engineering |
Synthesis of metal organic frameworks (MOFs), carbon dioxide adsorption by MOFs, drug delivery, and micro-pollutants removal by MOFs |
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Chemical Engineering |
Renewable energy, high temperature PEM fuel cells, nano-composite membranes, solid proton conductors, solar cells, implantable electrodes |
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Environmental and Analytical Chemistry |
Chemical and toxicological assessment of persistent organic pollutants in marine organisms, sediment/soil, water and air; conversion of waste biomass to adsorbent materials for the removal of heavy metals, pesticides and organic pollutants; photodegradation of toxic compounds (dioxins and furans) using zeolites and titanium based catalysts; chemical, environmental and health impact of smoking midwakh, e-cigarettes and other alternative tobacco products |
Dr. Sameh M. El-Sayegh
Professor and Head, Department of Civil Engineering
+971 6 515 2941, [email protected]
Annie Rose Regio
Senior Administrative Assistant
+971 6 515 4931, [email protected]
