Civil Engineering - Doctor of Philosophy - PHD - Postgraduate / Graduate Program - UBC Grad School

Overview

Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the natural and built environment. It is a very broad field made up of several sub-disciplines such as environmental engineering, construction engineering, geotechnical engineering, hydrotechnical engineering, materials engineering, structural engineering, and transportation engineering. Many of the sub-disciplines of civil engineering are themselves very broad and are made up of further distinguishable sub-disciplines. For example, hydrotechnical engineering includes water resources engineering, offshore engineering and coastal engineering.

For specific program requirements, please refer to the departmental program website

Quick Facts

Faculty Faculty of Applied Science

Mode of delivery In person at UBC Vancouver

Registration options Full-time

Program Components

Dissertation

Academic Unit Department of Civil Engineering

Specialization Civil Engineering

Tuition (First Year) Domestic: $5,407.56 | International: $9,500.19

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Program Enquiries

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Admission Information & Requirements

1) Check Eligibility

Minimum Academic Requirements

The Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies establishes the minimum admission requirements common to all applicants, usually a minimum overall average in the B+ range (76% at UBC). The graduate program that you are applying to may have additional requirements. Please review the specific requirements for applicants with credentials from institutions in:

Each program may set higher academic minimum requirements. Please review the program website carefully to understand the program requirements. Meeting the minimum requirements does not guarantee admission as it is a competitive process.

English Language Test

Applicants from a university outside Canada in which English is not the primary language of instruction must provide results of an English language proficiency examination as part of their application. Tests must have been taken within the last 24 months at the time of submission of your application.

Minimum requirements for the two most common English language proficiency tests to apply to this program are listed below:

TOEFL: Test of English as a Foreign Language - internet-based

Overall score requirement: 100

Reading

Writing

Speaking

Listening

IELTS: International English Language Testing System

Overall score requirement: 7.0

Reading

6.5

Writing

6.5

Speaking

6.5

Listening

6.5

Other Test Scores

Some programs require additional test scores such as the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or the Graduate Management Test (GMAT). The requirements for this program are:

The GRE is optional.

2) Meet Deadlines

September 2024 Intake

Application Open Date

01 July 2023

Canadian Applicants

Application Deadline: 31 January 2024

Transcript Deadline: 15 February 2024

Referee Deadline: 15 February 2024

International Applicants

Application Deadline: 31 January 2024

Transcript Deadline: 15 February 2024

Referee Deadline: 15 February 2024

Deadline Explanations

Application Deadline

Deadline to submit online application. No changes can be made to the application after submission.

Transcript Deadline

Deadline to upload scans of official transcripts through the applicant portal in support of a submitted application. Information for accessing the applicant portal will be provided after submitting an online application for admission.

Referee Deadline

Deadline for the referees identified in the application for admission to submit references. See Letters of Reference for more information.

3) Prepare Application

Transcripts

All applicants have to submit transcripts from all past post-secondary study. Document submission requirements depend on whether your institution of study is within Canada or outside of Canada.

Letters of Reference

A minimum of three references are required for application to graduate programs at UBC. References should be requested from individuals who are prepared to provide a report on your academic ability and qualifications.

Statement of Interest

Many programs require a statement of interest, sometimes called a "statement of intent", "description of research interests" or something similar.

Supervision

Students in research-based programs usually require a faculty member to function as their thesis supervisor. Please follow the instructions provided by each program whether applicants should contact faculty members.

Instructions regarding thesis supervisor contact for Doctor of Philosophy in Civil Engineering (PhD)

Applicants should browse faculty profiles and indicate in their application who they are interested in working with. No commitment from a supervisor prior to applying is necessary, but contacting faculty members is encouraged.

Citizenship Verification

Permanent Residents of Canada must provide a clear photocopy of both sides of the Permanent Resident card.

4) Apply Online

All applicants must complete an online application form and pay the application fee to be considered for admission to UBC.

Research Information

Research Focus

Civil Engineering Materials, Environmental Engineering (Environmental Fluid Mechanics, Geo-Environmental, Pollution Control & Wastewater Management), Geotechnical Engineering, Hydrotechnical Engineering, Project & Construction Management, Structural Enginering (Earthquake Engineering), Transportation Engineering

Tuition & Financial Support

Tuition

Fees	Canadian Citizen / Permanent Resident / Refugee / Diplomat	International
Application Fee	$114.00	$168.25
Tuition *
Installments per year	3	3
Tuition per installment	$1,802.52	$3,166.73
Tuition per year (plus annual increase, usually 2%-5%)	$5,407.56	$9,500.19
Int. Tuition Award (ITA) per year (if eligible)		$3,200.00 (-)
Other Fees and Costs
Student Fees (yearly)	$1,116.60 (approx.)
Costs of living (yearly)	starting at $19,323.20 (check cost calculator)

* Regular, full-time tuition. For on-leave, extension, continuing or part time (if applicable) fees see UBC Calendar.
All fees for the year are subject to adjustment and UBC reserves the right to change any fees without notice at any time, including tuition and student fees. Tuition fees are reviewed annually by the UBC Board of Governors. In recent years, tuition increases have been 2% for continuing domestic students and between 2% and 5% for continuing international students. New students may see higher increases in tuition. Admitted students who defer their admission are subject to the potentially higher tuition fees for incoming students effective at the later program start date. In case of a discrepancy between this webpage and the UBC Calendar, the UBC Calendar entry will be held to be correct.

Financial Support

Applicants to UBC have access to a variety of funding options, including merit-based (i.e. based on your academic performance) and need-based (i.e. based on your financial situation) opportunities.

Program Funding Packages

All full-time students who begin a UBC-Vancouver PhD program in September 2021 or later will be provided with a funding package of at least $22,000 for each of the first four years of their PhD. The funding package may consist of any combination of internal or external awards, teaching-related work, research assistantships, and graduate academic assistantships. Please note that many graduate programs provide funding packages that are substantially greater than $22,000 per year. Please check with your prospective graduate program for specific details of the funding provided to its PhD students.

Average Funding

Based on the criteria outlined below, 53 students within this program were included in this study because they received funding through UBC in the form of teaching, research, academic assistantships or internal or external awards averaging $29,340.

36 students received Teaching Assistantships. Average TA funding based on 36 students was $5,289.
44 students received Research Assistantships. Average RA funding based on 44 students was $17,198.
8 students received Academic Assistantships. Average AA funding based on 8 students was $1,294.
53 students received internal awards. Average internal award funding based on 53 students was $10,878.
1 student received external awards valued at $21,000.

Study Period: Sep 2021 to Aug 2022 - average funding for full-time PhD students enrolled in three terms per academic year in this program across years 1-4, the period covered by UBC's Minimum Funding Guarantee. Averages might mask variability in sources and amounts of funding received by individual students. Beyond year 4, funding packages become even more individualized.
Review methodology

Scholarships & awards (merit-based funding)

All applicants are encouraged to review the awards listing to identify potential opportunities to fund their graduate education. The database lists merit-based scholarships and awards and allows for filtering by various criteria, such as domestic vs. international or degree level.

Graduate Research Assistantships (GRA)

Many professors are able to provide Research Assistantships (GRA) from their research grants to support full-time graduate students studying under their supervision. The duties constitute part of the student's graduate degree requirements. A Graduate Research Assistantship is considered a form of fellowship for a period of graduate study and is therefore not covered by a collective agreement. Stipends vary widely, and are dependent on the field of study and the type of research grant from which the assistantship is being funded.

Graduate Teaching Assistantships (GTA)

Graduate programs may have Teaching Assistantships available for registered full-time graduate students. Full teaching assistantships involve 12 hours work per week in preparation, lecturing, or laboratory instruction although many graduate programs offer partial TA appointments at less than 12 hours per week. Teaching assistantship rates are set by collective bargaining between the University and the Teaching Assistants' Union.

Graduate Academic Assistantships (GAA)

Academic Assistantships are employment opportunities to perform work that is relevant to the university or to an individual faculty member, but not to support the student’s graduate research and thesis. Wages are considered regular earnings and when paid monthly, include vacation pay.

Financial aid (need-based funding)

Canadian and US applicants may qualify for governmental loans to finance their studies. Please review eligibility and types of loans.

All students may be able to access private sector or bank loans.

Foreign government scholarships

Many foreign governments provide support to their citizens in pursuing education abroad. International applicants should check the various governmental resources in their home country, such as the Department of Education, for available scholarships.

Working while studying

The possibility to pursue work to supplement income may depend on the demands the program has on students. It should be carefully weighed if work leads to prolonged program durations or whether work placements can be meaningfully embedded into a program.

International students enrolled as full-time students with a valid study permit can work on campus for unlimited hours and work off-campus for no more than 20 hours a week.

A good starting point to explore student jobs is the UBC Work Learn program or a Co-Op placement.

Tax credits and RRSP withdrawals

Students with taxable income in Canada may be able to claim federal or provincial tax credits.

Canadian residents with RRSP accounts may be able to use the Lifelong Learning Plan (LLP) which allows students to withdraw amounts from their registered retirement savings plan (RRSPs) to finance full-time training or education for themselves or their partner.

Please review Filing taxes in Canada on the student services website for more information.

Cost Calculator

Applicants have access to the cost calculator to develop a financial plan that takes into account various income sources and expenses.

Career Outcomes

96 students graduated between 2005 and 2013: 1 graduate is seeking employment; for 12 we have no data (based on research conducted between Feb-May 2016). For the remaining 83 graduates:

RI (Research-Intensive) Faculty: typically tenure-track faculty positions (equivalent of the North American Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, and Professor positions) in PhD-granting institutions
TI (Teaching-Intensive) Faculty: typically full-time faculty positions in colleges or in institutions not granting PhDs, and teaching faculty at PhD-granting institutions
Term Faculty: faculty in term appointments (e.g. sessional lecturers, visiting assistant professors, etc.)

Sample Employers in Higher Education

University of British Columbia (5)
British Columbia Institute of Technology (3)
University of Lethbridge
American University of Sharjah
University Centre in Svalbard
Cairo University
University of Chile
King Mongkut's University of Technology
Carleton University
University of Toronto

Sample Employers Outside Higher Education

BC Hydro (5)
Golder Associates (3)
City of Vancouver (2)
Klohn Crippen Berger (2)
Tetra Tech EBA (2)
General Electric
AECOM
Sightline Engineering Ltd.
Glotman Simpson
Ecofish Research

Sample Job Titles Outside Higher Education

Senior Geotechnical Engineer (6)
President (3)
Senior Project Engineer (2)
Engineer (2)
Structural Engineer (2)
Geotechnical Engineer (2)
Principal Consultant (2)
Principal (2)
Associate (2)
Founder, CEO

PhD Career Outcome Survey

You may view the full report on career outcomes of UBC PhD graduates on outcomes.grad.ubc.ca.

Disclaimer

These data represent historical employment information and do not guarantee future employment prospects for graduates of this program. They are for informational purposes only. Data were collected through either alumni surveys or internet research.

Career Options

Many graduates from the Civil Engineering program at UBC use the knowledge and experience they gain from the broad academic program as a stepping stone to non-engineering careers, such as in business and management, or go on to other academic disciplines such as architecture or medicine.

Graduates from the Civil Engineering program at UBC who go on to practice as professional engineers are employed by small and large consulting engineering companies – some providing more specialized services and others more comprehensive services; engineering companies that provide large-scale infrastructure projects; crown corporations such as BC Hydro; and various levels of government – municipal, provincial and federal governments, and government branches and agencies

Alumni on Success

Freddy Pina

Job Title
President

Employer
PBRV Consulting Ltd.

Enrolment, Duration & Other Stats

These statistics show data for the Doctor of Philosophy in Civil Engineering (PhD). Data are separated for each degree program combination. You may view data for other degree options in the respective program profile.

ENROLMENT DATA

	2022	2021	2020	2019	2018
Applications	102	123	114	122	121
Offers	13	22	20	12	14
New Registrations	7	17	16	11	10
Total Enrolment	81	81	78	71	68

Completion Rates & Times

This program has a graduation rate of 75% based on 53 students admitted between 2009 - 2012. Based on 27 graduations between 2019 - 2022 the minimum time to completion is 3.41 years and the maximum time is 9.91 years with an average of 5.92 years of study. All calculations exclude leave times.

Disclaimer

Admissions data refer to all UBC Vancouver applications, offers, new registrants for each registration year, May to April, e.g. data for 2022 refers to programs starting in 2022 Summer and 2022 Winter session, i.e. May 1, 2022 to April 30, 2023. Data on total enrolment reflects enrolment in Winter Session Term 1 and are based on snapshots taken on November 1 of each registration year. Program completion data are only provided for datasets comprised of more than 4 individuals. Graduation rates exclude students who transfer out of their programs. Rates and times of completion depend on a number of variables (e.g. curriculum requirements, student funding), some of which may have changed in recent years for some programs.

Upcoming Doctoral Exams

Friday, 1 December 2023 - 12:30pm - Room 200

Ana Maria Valverde

Image-based Characterization of Low-plastic Silt Matrix for Fabric Quantification Using X-ray Micro-Computed Tomography

Thursday, 7 December 2023 - 9:00am - Room 203

Pouria Kourehpaz

Advancing Seismic Risk Assessment Methodologies for Building Structures

Research Supervisors

Supervision

Instructions regarding thesis supervisor contact for Doctor of Philosophy in Civil Engineering (PhD)

Advice and insights from UBC Faculty on reaching out to supervisors

These videos contain some general advice from faculty across UBC on finding and reaching out to a supervisor. They are not program specific.

This list shows faculty members with full supervisory privileges who are affiliated with this program. It is not a comprehensive list of all potential supervisors as faculty from other programs or faculty members without full supervisory privileges can request approvals to supervise graduate students in this program.

Adebar, Perry Erwin (Concrete structures, seismic design, high-rise buildings, shear design, evaluation and repair of structures)
Banthia, Nemkumar (Materials engineering, concrete, advanced composite materials, shotcrete, fibre reinforcement, rebound mechanics, kinamatic studies, optimization, supplementary cementing materials in concrete)
Beck, Sara (Natural environment sciences; Water quality; Innovative water treatment solutions; Ultraviolet disinfection mechanisms; Applications of UV LEDs (light emitting diodes); Water disinfection; Water reuse; Applied environmental microbiology)
Berube, Pierre (Water treatment, trace organic contaminants, membrane and advanced oxidation technologies., Drinking water treatment, filtration/membrane processes for water and wastewater treatment, distribution system water quality, advanced oxidation, wastewater reuse)
Bigazzi, Alex (Civil engineering; Transport planning; active transportation; Pedestrians; bicycles; travel behaviour; Transportation Systems; motor vehicle emissions; Climate impacts)
Carey, Trevor (Geotechnical earthquake engineering, Static and dynamic liquefaction and its effects on geosystems, Laboratory testing of soils, Development of numerical tools)
Fannin, R Jonathan (Shear wave velocity for the detection of fines loss in soils, internal erosion in earth dams, seepage-induced instability in gap-graded soils, grain shape and the strength of sands, filtration compatibility of woven and nonwoven geotextiles, pullout resistance of geogrids in static and dynamic loading, debris flow travel distance on steep mountainous terrain, slope stability in engineering practice)
Haukaas, Terje (Risk, structures, structural safety, seismic, earthquake, probability, computer analysis, Structures, Probabilistic mechanics, structural reliability and optimization, timber engineering, earthquake engineering, decision making, risk, advanced structural analysis, finite elements, response sensitivity analysis, software development)
Jelovica, Jasmin (Civil engineering; Mechanical engineering; Finite element analysis; Metals and Alloys; Production and Process Optimization; Sandwich structures; Solid Mechanics; Stress Analysis; Structural optimization; Ultimate, fatigue and impact strength; Welding and joining of metals)
Kim, Amy (Land transportation systems engineering, n.e.c.; Traffic and highway engineering)
Laval, Bernard (Civil engineering; Oceanography)
Lawrence, Gregory (Environmental fluid mechanics, hydraulics, hydrodynamic stability and mixing, physical limnology, water quality management)
Lee, Jongho (Membranes, Water/Wastewater Treatment, Desalination, Resource Harvesting, Nanoporous Media, Electrokinetics )
Lence, Barbara Jean (Hydrotechnical, Optimizing design and operational strategies of water resources projects, reliable withdrawal-treatment strategies for contaminated groundwater supply systems, asset management strategies for mid-sized water utilities with limited break data, water distribution system operational procedures to meet hydraulic and water quality objectives)
Li, Loretta (Contaminated site investigation and management, environmental monitoring, risk and impact assessment, soil-contaminant interactions, mobility and migration of contaminants, remediation technology, mine tailings waste disposal and treatment processes)
Molina Hutt, Carlos (Earthquake engineering, performance-based seismic design, seismic resilience, risk analysis, high-rise buildings, innovative structural systems)
Sayed, Tarek (transportation engineering, Transportation, Full Bayes safety models, Automated safety analysis using computer vision techniques, Safety evaluations, Traffic conflicts techniques, Pedestrian modeling, and ITS)
Scholes, Rachel (Environmental chemistry; Trace contaminants; Water reuse; Nature-based treatment systems; Stormwater treatment; Green Chemistry)
Staub-French, Sheryl (Virtual Design and Construction (VDC), Building Information Modeling (BIM), collaboration and integrated project delivery, design and construction coordination, 4D (3D + time) visualization, interactive workspaces)
Swei, Omar (Asset Management, Life Cycle Modeling, Optimization Methods, Real Options, Reinforcement Learning, Risk Analysis, Sequential Decision-Making, Stochastic Modeling, Sustainable Infrastructure Management, Time-Series Methods, Uncertainty Estimation and Propagation)
Taiebat, Mahdi (static and dynamic soil-structure interaction, Theoretical and computational geomechanics, constitutive modeling of engineering materials, geotechnical earthquake engineering, static and dynamic soil-structure-interaction)
Vaziri, Reza (Finite element analysis, Mechanics of composite materials, Constitutive modeling of engineering materials, Plasticity, Damage mechanics, Process modeling of composite structures, Analysis of impact and blast loading of metallic and composite structures)
Ventura, Carlos Estuardo (Earthquake engineering, structural dynamics, full scale vibration testing, shake table testing Seismic risk evaluation and hazard management studies Investigation of earthquake effects on man-made structures)
Weijs, Steven (Civil engineering; Water; Hydrological Cycle and Reservoirs; Drinking Water; Fresh Water; Information; Hydroelectricity; Ice and Snow; control of water systems; droughts; experimental hydrology; floods; Hydrological Prediction; Hydrology; information theory; mountain hydrology; sensors; uncertainty; water resources management)
Wijewickreme, Dharmapriya (Geotechnical, pipeline geotechnical engineering)

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Doctoral Citations

A doctoral citation summarizes the nature of the independent research, provides a high-level overview of the study, states the significance of the work and says who will benefit from the findings in clear, non-specialized language, so that members of a lay audience will understand it.

Year	Citation
2023	Dr. Abraham studied how subduction earthquakes influence regional seismic risk assessment in BC. She developed damage and loss functions for main BC building typologies to confirm the impact of subduction events in BC localities. Her study helps better understand the impact of significant earthquakes on regional seismic risk in the province.
2023	Dr. Robb investigated the physical processes affecting turbidity in the surface waters of a glacier-fed hydroelectric reservoir, and the role of reservoir operations in modifying these processes. This research will help guide water use planning and reservoir management in dam-impacted aquatic ecosystems.
2023	Dr. Dutta developed and optimised membrane systems for resource recovery from wastewater. Using this energy-efficient technology he extracted over 90% of dissolved methane and ammonia, which are profitable chemicals. This research highlights the potential of a circular economy in the waste sector while reducing environmental pollution.
2023	Dr. Zhao studied methane bubbling from lake sediments. He showed that changes in atmospheric pressure regulate the release of methane bubbles from lake sediments, which then affects lake water quality and contributes to atmospheric methane concentration. The results apply to all aquatic systems and provide guidance for future emission surveys.
2023	Dr. Pan studied advanced methods of inspecting infrastructure damages. He developed an automatic framework to quantify damages and associated losses on infrastructure which can enhance the efficiency and accuracy of traditional manual inspection. His research contributes to a smarter, more resilient and sustainable built environment.
2023	As the air flows through our towns, fields, and forests, it moves in chaotic, ever-evolving patterns. Dr. Schmid worked to improve the mathematical and computational tools we use to study this motion in order to enable more accurate and flexible modeling.
2022	Dr. Yang studied how heat and mass move vertically in stratified flow environments. He conducted both laboratory experiments and numerical simulations to study the dynamics of this movement. His research improves our ability to model global climate change.
2022	Dr. Farooq developed a system of sensors connected via the Internet of Things to detect flood damage at the bridges. His research would help prevent a catastrophic collapse of bridges, thereby saving lives and resources, and is a major step in safeguarding our infrastructure against the effects of climate change.
2022	Dr. Palmieri focused on the modeling of the degradation of clayey soils during earthquakes. She derived a simplified procedure to predict the strength of this type of soil under different frequencies of loading. Further, she developed a degradation mechanism for an existing model to conduct seismic analysis under different amplitudes of loading.
2022	Dr. Banerjee's dissertation studied soil liquefaction under the influence of particle-level factors. He isolated these factors using numerical models to explore micro-macro connections. Fundamental insights from this cyclic loading-based analysis can be applied to the development of geo constitutive modeling and designing of granular materials.

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Sample Thesis Submissions

Further Information

Specialization

Civil Engineering

Civil Engineering covers the following areas of specialization: civil engineering materials, environmental fluid mechanics, environmental systems engineering, geo-environmental engineering, geotechnical engineering, hydrotechnical engineering, project & construction management, structural & earthquake engineering, transportation engineering

UBC Calendar

https://vancouver.calendar.ubc.ca/faculties-colleges-and-schools/faculty-graduate-and-postdoctoral-studies/degree-programs/civil-engineering

Program Website

https://civil.ubc.ca/graduate/doctor-of-philosophy/

Faculty Overview

Faculty of Applied Science

Academic Unit

Department of Civil Engineering

Program Identifier

VGDPHD-ED

Classification

Civil engineering

Program Website