PhD Civil Engineering Admission

PhD Civil Engineering is a 3 to 5-year research-based course that deals with the study of Designing, Constructing, and maintaining a physically and naturally made environment which includes Roads, Canals, Bridges, Sewage Systems, Airports, Pipelines, buildings, houses, etc.

Candidates wanting to pursue PhD in Civil Engineering must have completed a PG Degree with at least 60% in Civil Engineering domain. Admission is done via entrance test-based and also by merit-based. Candidates willing to take admission via the Entrance test will have to clear GATE/UGC-NET, etc.

To get admission in IITs of India one will have to qualify in GATE. There are some colleges that conduct their own examinations. Some of the top colleges are IIT Madras, IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi, VIT, etc. The average fees may range from around INR 20,000 to INR 1,60,000.

Eligibility Criteria for PhD Civil Engineering

Eligibility for PhD in Civil Engineering includes students having to successfully pass their Masters in Civil Engineering or any related field from a recognized educational board and a minimum 55% score. In addition, many colleges and universities conduct entrance exams for the evaluation of students. Some of these exams are GATE, VITMEE, NET, ITM NEST, etc. There is no age limit to applying for this course.

Syllabus of PhD Civil Engineering

The syllabus for PhD in Civil Engineering differs with the specialization chosen by the students. PhDs, in general, are extremely research-based and are completely dependent on students’ independent research projects with help and guidance from their university’s faculty.

It should be noted that the syllabus for each specialization may vary with each college, however, given below is the syllabus according to IIT Kanpur

Environmental Engineering

1. Water and wastewater treatment
2. Aerosol Properties and Regional Climate Change
3. Experimental (Chamber studies)
4. Instrument Design
5. Modeling and simulation of environmental systems

Geoinformatics

1. Geodetic GPS surveys
2. Satellite data processing and application
3. Laser scanning technology
4. Laser scanning applications
5. GIS applications

Geotechnical Engineering

1. Foundation Engineering
2. Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering
3. Ground Improvement Techniques
4. Other Geotechnical Research Areas

Hydraulics and Water Resources Engineering

1. Climate Change
2. Surface Water
3. Ground Water
4. Experimental Hydraulics and Sediment Transport

Infrastructure Engineering And Management

1. Construction Management
2. Infrastructure Assets
3. Maintenance of Infrastructure Assets
4. Planning and Creation of Infrastructure Assets
5. Concrete Engineering

Structural Engineering

1. Computational Mechanics and Structural Analysis
2. Earthquake Engineering
3. Seismic Analysis and Design
4. Risk & Reliability
5. Concrete and cement-based materials
6. Structure Materials
7. Design and Experiment
8. Sensing and Monitoring

Transportation Engineering

1. Traffic Engineering
2. Transport Demand Analysis
3. Traffic Safety
4. Highway Financing and Policy Analysis
5. Pavement Engineering

How To Get Admission for PhD Civil Engineering?

PhD Civil Engineering admission is possible by both entrance examination and merit-based selection. Many universities offer the option of direct and entrance exams for PhD in Civil Engineering courses. 

Candidates applying for the PhD Civil Engineering degree might have their results from the respective entrance exam boards required by the selected/opted universities. 

Though the admission process fluctuates from college to college, below are the instructions that one should generally go through to get admission.

How to Apply?

The PhD Civil Engineering degree course applications are available either online from the university website or offline by visiting the university's admissions office. In addition, some colleges might take interviews before admissions to establish if students have strong communication skills. 

Selection Process

The selection process for PhD Civil Engineering in India is largely similar, regardless of the subspecialty. In many circumstances, universities make their final selection of candidates based on their admission exam scores after receiving an application for a program.

Furthermore, the academic achievements of the candidates during their undergraduate degrees have a significant impact.

Admission Process For PhD Civil Engineering

To get admitted to a university offering PhD Civil Engineering, students should achieve the minimum eligibility criteria given by the university, and clear the entrance exams. The entrance exam will be followed by a personal interview. The admission process may vary from university to university

Given below are the basic steps regarding the admission process followed by the top colleges offering PhD Civil Engineering:

Applications: Candidates can start by filling up the application form of the particular institute, followed by submitting documents and paying the application fees.

Entrance Exams: Institutes may accept the scores of national-level exams like GATE/ NET or will conduct their own entrance examination at the university level.

Merit list: Students will be evaluated based on the marks scored in the entrance test. The candidates clearing the cut-off will be shortlisted.

Interview: Shortlisted candidates will be called for a personal interview.

Enrollment: The students clearing the interview can get enrolled after document verification and payment of the 1st installment.

PhD Civil Engineering Entrance Exams

• IIT JAM
• VITMEE
• UGC NET

How to Prepare for the Entrance Exam

The GATE syllabus consists of three sections - General Aptitude, Engineering Mathematics, and subject-specific papers as chosen by students during the submission of application forms. The subjects for the exam include Computer Science Engineering, Electronics & Communication Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Civil Engineering.

Read more: GATE Syllabus

To crack any entrance exam for admission in a good college to pursue a PhD in Civil Engineering, the following points should be kept in mind while preparing, because it is absolutely necessary to have a proper strategy.

To manage their personal and academic life well, students should prepare a timetable for the proper allocation of time and energy.

Choose the highly recommended books to prepare. Because there are too many resources and thus it may be confusing.

Solve past years’ question papers because there is no better way to learn and understand the examination pattern than solving question papers of previous years.

Instead of investing time in rote learning, spend time on understanding the concept in a meaningful way because that knowledge will stay with you forever.

While you study, make sure to also train your mind for the exam by practicing past papers around the time you will be taking the exam.

Job Profiles After PhD Civil Engineering 

1. Design Engineer
2. Project Manager
3. Structural Engineer
4. Building Control Surveyor
5. Construction Manager
6. Site Engineer
7. Building Services Manager

Phd Civil Engineering Future Scope

A PhD holder earns more annually than someone with a bachelor’s or master’s degree.

The demand for civil engineers in all kinds of specializations is incredibly high in India. Hence with the demand, job opportunities for civil engineers have visibly increased.

India being a developing country, still needs to build a lot of infrastructures to improve the life of the people, therefore the demand for civil engineers is quite high.

There is a huge demand for well-skilled and educated professionals not only in India but around the world.

It is often heard that people with a Ph.D. can only proceed to become a university professor or something along that line - however, this is untrue, as there are so many more job opportunities for PhD holders than just academia.