CEE-PHD - Civil and Environmental Engineering (PhD)
Program Overview
The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) at Stanford conducts fundamental and applied research to advance the civil and environmental engineering professions, educate future academic and industry leaders, and prepare students for careers in professional practice. Civil and environmental engineers work to protect and sustain the natural environment while creating and maintaining a resilient, sustainably built environment. Civil and environmental engineers are essential to providing the necessities of human life, including water, air, shelter, infrastructure, and energy, in increasingly more efficient and renewable ways.
Research and teaching in the department focus on the theme of engineering for sustainability, including three core areas: built environment, environmental and water studies, and atmosphere/energy. In sustainably produced environments, the focus is on processes, techniques, materials, and monitoring technologies for planning, designing, constructing, and operating environmentally sensitive, economically efficient, performance-based buildings and infrastructure and managing associated risks from natural and artificial hazards. Environmental and water studies focus on creating plans, policies, science-based assessment models, and engineered systems to manage water in ways that protect human health, promote human welfare, and provide freshwater and coastal ecosystem services. In the atmosphere/energy area, research and teaching focus on fundamental energy and atmospheric engineering and science, assessment of energy-use effects on atmospheric processes and air quality, and analysis and design of energy-efficient generation and use systems with minimal environmental impact.
Free Form Requisites
The PhD program requires a total of 135 units of graduate study, at least 90 units of which must be at Stanford. Up to 45 units of graduate study can be represented by the MS program described above. Additionally, up to 45 units of graduate study can be represented by the Engineer (ENG) program as described above if both the MS and ENG units were all completed at Stanford. Students must maintain a minimum GPA of 3.0 in post-M.S. coursework. All candidates for the PhD degree are required to complete CEE 200 in conjunction with a one-quarter teaching assistantship/course assistantship to gain training and instructional experience. The department Graduate Handbook contains further information on PhD requirements and regulations.
The program of study is arranged via consultation between the prospective candidate and their dissertation research advisor. This program of study considers the interests of the student and the background needed for their thesis topic within the framework of the requirements of the department and the university.
By the end of a student’s sixth quarter as an enrolled PhD student, excluding summers, the student is expected to pass both parts of the department’s General Qualifying Examination (GQE) to be admitted to candidacy for the doctoral degree. The GQE aims to ensure that the student is adequately prepared to undertake doctoral research and has a well-planned research topic. The exam includes (1) a written and/or oral general examination of the candidate’s doctoral major field, (2) a presentation and defense of the candidate’s doctoral research dissertation proposal, or (3) a combination research proposal and general examination. The GQE is administered by an advisory committee consisting of at least three Stanford faculty members, including a chair who is a faculty member in Civil and Environmental Engineering and the student’s doctoral advisor. When the primary advisor is not a member of the CEE faculty (CEE-Academic Council), there must be a CEE faculty (CEE-Academic Council) co-adviser, and the committee will consist of four examiners, with a minimum of two members who are Academic Council in the CEE department. All members are generally on the Stanford Academic Council. A petition for the appointment of one advisory committee member not on the Academic Council may be made if the proposed person contributes an area of expertise that is not readily available from the faculty. Such petitions are subject to approval by the department chair. When the primary research advisor is not a member of the CEE Academic Council faculty, there must be a CEE faculty (CEE-Academic Council) co-adviser, and the committee will consist of four examiners, with a minimum of two members who are Academic Council faculty in the CEE department.