Doctor of Philosophy | Civil and Environmental Engineering

Students can choose to pursue a Doctor of Philosophy degree in one of the following research areas:  

Construction Technology and Management 

• Construction Technology and Management  
• Risks and Project Financing  
• Facility and Infrastructure Management 

Environmental and Water Resources 

• Membrane Technology in Environmental Engineering  
• Water Reclamation Technologies  
• Waste Reuse and Resource Recovery  
• Environmental Biotechnology  
• Integrated Urban Water Management  
• Environmental Fluid Mechanics  
• Sediment Transport  
• Coastal Management 

Geotechnical Engineering 

• Foundations of High-Rise Buildings  
• Land Reclamation  
• Underground Space Development  
• Tropical Soil Engineering  
• Rock Mechanics and Engineering Geology 

Maritime Studies 

• Maritime Energy and Sustainable Development 
• Maritime Logistics  
• Port Economics and Management  
• Maritime Strategy and Risk Management  
• Strategic and Quality Management in Shipping  
• Supply Chain Management 

Structures and Mechanics 

• Computational Mechanics  
• Earthquake Engineering and Structural Dynamics  
• Protective Technology  
• Fire Engineering  
• Concrete and Steel Technology 

Transportation Engineering 

• Transport Modelling and Traffic Management  
• Transport Planning  
• Congestion Pricing  
• Road Safety Engineering  

For faculty listing in the various research areas: Click Here

There are two intakes each year - August or January. Applicants are advised to upload their applications 4 months before their desired intake.

Intake in August or January is subjected to the school's selection and recommendation. The University reserves the right to admit applicants in other semesters.

Admission & Programme Information

Admission Criteria

A good Honours degree, at least Second Class Honours, Upper Division or Honours (Distinction) and the ability to pursue research in his proposed field of advanced study.

Application Period

There are two intakes each year – August or January

• August Intake: 1 October to 31 January
• January Intake: 1 June to 31 July

Each application is chargeable at S$50 (Net)

List of Supporting Documents: Click Here

Tuition Fees: Click here

Online Application: Click Here

• 18 AUs (6 courses) with CGPA 3.50 
• Communications course & 3-minute thesis (3MT) 
• Graduate English (HWG703)* & University Teaching for Teaching Assistants (HWG702)* 

• Qualifying examination & confirmation by end of Year 2 
• Submission of thesis for examination 
• PhD oral examination 

• All candidates will commence as Research Students in the first instance. Subsequently, the candidate will be required to pass the Qualifying Examination and Confirmation Exercise in order to be confirmed as a PhD candidate or MEng candidate. 
• The candidate will pursue the research work under the supervision of the supervisor and submit for examination a thesis based on the research work done.  The candidate must keep in frequent and regular contact with the supervisor regarding the research throughout the candidature period. 
• The candidate is required to attend classes and pass the examination to meet the coursework requirements such as Academic Unit (AU) and Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA).   
• Candidates are required to complete all the coursework and undergo a Qualifying Examination cum Confirmation Exercise within the period stipulated.  
• Upon completion of the research, the candidate is required to submit the thesis in a form ready and acceptable for examination before the expiry of the maximum candidature. 
• In addition to being examined on the thesis, a candidate for the degree of PhD must pass an oral examination) on the subject matter of the thesis and other related subjects. 

Candidature Period

* For part-time PhD by Research, students admitted before Academic Year 2020-2021, the maximum candidature period is 7 years. 

​CV6103 Structural Dynamics (3 AUs)​​​

Free and forced vibration of single degree of freedom structures; damping; convolution integral; state space method; free and forced vibration of multi-degree of freedom structures; numerical methods; structural response to seismic loading; response spectra; time history analysis and response spectra analysis; special topics.

CV6104 Behaviour and Design of Reinforced Concrete Structures (3 AUs) - Suspended

Properties of concrete; flexure, shear, and torsion theories; time-dependent behaviour; slender columns; flat plate flat slab systems; yield line theory and strip method of design, strut and tie models for design.

CV6106 Precast and Prestressed Concrete Structures (3 AUs)

Prestressing systems; properties of concrete and prestressing steel; flexural analysis and design of prestressed concrete beams under flexure, shear, and torsion; design of anchorage zone; precast building systems, design and analysis of precast column/wall, beam and slabs and component connections; design for precast construction and production.​

CV6107 Behaviour and Design of Steel and Composite Structures (3 AUs)

Behaviour and design of steel structures: columns, beams, beam-columns and frames; behaviour and design of composite structures: shear connectors, composite beams, columns, slabs and joints.

CV6108 Analysis and Design of Tall Buildings (3 AUs)

Philosophy and design criteria of tall buildings; structural systems for tall buildings: moment-resisting frames, shear walls, braced frames; P-Delta effects and instability; structural design process: functional requirements; design criteria and loading: dead, live, wind, and earthquake loads; preliminary and computer-aided proportioning; analysis of tall buildings; very tall buildings including framed tube, tube in tube, trussed tube and hat trusses, etc.

CV6109 Advanced Concrete Technology (3 AUs)

Concrete constituent materials; properties of fresh concrete: workability, superplasticizer, self-compacting concrete; hydration and microstructure formation of concrete: hydration process, microstructure; durability of concrete; cement replacement materials; evaluation of concrete structures: cracking in concrete, testing of hardened concrete, assessment of concrete quality.

CV6112 Fundamentals of Catastrophe Risk Modeling (3 AUs) - Suspended

Introduction to various catastrophe risks and modular structured ways to model the risks from various perils, probability distributions, basic framework of Catastrophe risk Models; treatment of uncertainties, risk quantification, aggregation across several perils, introduction to some advanced applications, risk management, risk transfer techniques, validation and use of Cat models, seminars and independent study cum presentation.

CV6162 Structural Response to Blast Loading (3 AUs)

Introduction of structural dynamics; blast load and structural response characteristics; energy solutions; equivalent systems method; numerical solutions; damage index and control limits; stress wave propagation from surface and buried explosions; impact and ballistic loading and associated responses; human response to blast loading; M & E considerations; Special topics. 

CV6311 Soil Behaviour and Engineering Properties (3 AUs)

Physical properties of soils. Hydraulic properties of soils. Compressibility and consolidation behaviour of soils. Stress-deformation and shear strength behaviour of soils. M easurements of strength, stiffness, compressibility, permeability and consolidation properties of soils by laboratory and in-situ testing methods. Evaluation of design parameters.

CV6312 Slope Stability and Ground Improvement (3 AUs)

Slope stability: shear strength, total and effective stress analyses, methods of slices involving circular and noncircular slip surfaces, slope monitoring and stabilization, case studies. 

Soil improvement: surface compaction, deep compaction, admixture stabilization, reinforced soil, preloading and vertical drains. Pre-treatment and post-treatment assessment. 

CV6313 Shallow and Deep Foundations (3 AUs)

Footing and raft foundations: design considerations, bearing capacity, settlement, combined footings, soil-raft interaction analysis, pile-raft foundations. Deep Foundations: response of piles to vertical and horizontal loads, load transfer, dynamic pile testing and static pile load tests.

CV6314 Excavation & Earth Retaining Systems (3 AUs)

Retaining structures: Lateral earth pressure, design of earth retention systems, concrete retaining walls, reinforced soil walls and anchored bulkheads. Supported excavation: overview of braced/anchored excavations in soil, evaluation of soil properties, stability of excavations, design of excavation support systems, ground movements associated with excavation, construction monitoring.

CV6315 Engineering Geology and Rock Engineering (3 AUs)

Engineering geology: plate tectonics, minerals, rock types and rock cycle, geological structures, rock dating and geological time scale, geological maps, hemispherical projection, geology of Singapore. Rock mechanics: rock mass classifications, laboratory measurements of strength and deformation properties of rocks, failure criteria, shear strength of discontinuities. Applications: rock foundations, stability of rock slopes, underground rock excavations.

CV6316 Planning and Development of Underground Space in Rock Caverns (3 AUs)

Introduction to uses of underground rock caverns, benefits and challenges, review of cavern space development in Singapore, planning considerations for rock cavern facilities, cost planning, site investigations, design of rock caverns and layout options, stability analysis and rock support design, construction technology, blasting and vibrations, risk management, HSE aspects, special considerations for selected underground facilities, and case studies with two selected projects.

CV6422 Statistical Methods and Applications (3 AUs)

Probability and statistical concepts. Sampling methods. Statistical Inference: estimation, hypothesis testing. Goodness-of-fit tests. Non-parametric procedures. Regression analysis. Time series analysis. Computer applications.

CV6443 Traffic Impact & Safety Studies (3 AUs)

Overview of transport project impacts. Trip and parking generation. Site traffic impact analysis. Assessment of environmental impacts of transport facilities: noise, pollutant emission, visual impact. Measures to mitigate traffic impacts. Road safety study: accident characteristics, analysis techniques, remedial and prevention measures.

CV6481 Urban & Regional Transport Planning (3 AUs)

National and regional transportation planning. Urban issues and the planning process. Economic, environmental and energy considerations. Transport and land use interaction. Travel patterns and planning of transport networks. Freight movement and facilities planning. Feasibility analysis of transport facilities. Transportation planning in developing countries.

CV6807 Fatigue and Fracture of Steel Structures (3 AUs)

Introduction, Fracture mechanics, Fatigue design principles, Fatigue capacity, fatigue loading and stresses, Simplified fatigue assessment, Spectral fatigue analysis and design, Application of fracture mechanics, Assessment of integrity of structures containing defects, Material selection and criteria.

CV6809 Analysis of Offshore Floating Structures (3 AUs) - Suspended​

Introduction to floating structures; Review of basic mathematics and fluid mechanics; Current and wind loads; Linear wave theory, viscous wave loads, wave loads on large bodies – linear diffraction theory; Radiation analysis for large floating structures; Overview of design requirements of floating structures; Mooring lines and risers; buoyancy and stability; dynamic analysis of floating structures.

Research Scholarships

Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents 

• Nanyang President's Graduate Scholarship 
• NTU Research Scholarship 

International Applicants  

• Nanyang President's Graduate Scholarship 
• NTU Research Scholarship 
• Singapore International Graduate Award (SINGA) 

For more information: Click Here 

GRE Requirements

Applicants with total GRE scores (V + Q) equivalent to or more than 319 with a minimum Analytical Writing Measure score (AW) must be equivalent to or more than 3.5.

TOEFL Requirements

A good TOEFL/IELTS score for applicants whose native language is not English. Test dates must be within 2 years or less from date of application.

• TOEFL : 600 / 100 (Paper / Internet)
• IELTS : 6.5 (Academic)