Civil and Environmental Engineering

Your PhD will be conducted within one of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering’s world-class research groups. In the Civil and Environmental Engineering programme of the University of Surrey you’ll work to create smart and clean urban environments within the constraints of space and the challenges of ageing infrastructure.

This Civil and Environmental Engineering Civil and Environmental Engineering PhD programme offered at the University of Surrey University of Surrey delves into advanced research and specialised study within the field. You’ll be equipped with the knowledge, skills, and expertise to become a leader in your field, capable of addressing the complex challenges facing our built and natural environments.

Career opportunities

On this programme, your research will address the need for safe and sustainable environments in which we can all live and work. Your research can be about anything covered by one of our four research centres, or within the wider research interests of the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences. You’ll be assigned two supervisors who will guide you through your PhD and meet with you at least once a month. Your supervisors will be responsible for your progress, professional development and personal welfare. They’ll also be able to support you with preparing your work for publication and for research seminar presentations. You’ll normally spend the first few months of your studies exploring the existing literature within your area of interest and establishing the research question you’ll address. After your first year, you’ll take a confirmation exam, and produce a report setting out your research objectives and what you’ve done so far, as well as a plan for how you’ll complete your final thesis. Your final assessment will be on your written thesis, and by a viva examination with both internal and external examiners. Your final assessment will be based on the presentation of your research in a written thesis, which will be discussed in a viva examination with at least two examiners. You have the option of preparing your thesis as a monograph (one large volume in chapter form) or in publication format (including chapters written for publication), subject to the approval of your supervisors.

Research themes included

• Centre for Environmental Health and Engineering

• Centre for Infrastructure Systems Engineering

• Geomechanics Research Group

• Global Centre for Clean Air Research