Future students

Francois PhD student: The aim of my research is to study the power capture of bottom pivoted pitching cylinders in intermediate water depth subjected to regular and irregular waves. For this, I use the new 30m wave tank facility at the School of Civil Engineering, capable of producing complex irregular waves that simulate complex and realistic ocean wave conditions.

My experience at the University of Sydney has been excellent. My supervisors are very supportive and weekly seminars taking place within the School of Civil Engineering help present your research progress but also receive valuable ideas from people not directly involved in your field. I have been able to travel overseas to present my work at international conferences. Finally, it is also great to be close to companies working in this novel field and compare research and industry approaches and solutions.

I have learnt the difference between research and development – development means working on existing ideas, but research is investing your own ideas and that idea must be strong enough to create a paradigm shift in the area. It is really exciting to be working on research that could be recognised internationally.

Research Degrees - PhD and Masters

The School of Civil Engineering offers postgraduate degree programmes in the following areas:

The degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) is awarded for original research. Applicants for this degree should hold a Master's degree or a first degree equivalent to a first or second class honours degree from The University of Sydney. The degree may be taken part time or full time. For full time candidates, the minimum period of candidature is 3 years.

The degree of Master of Philosophy (MPhil) is of shorter duration than the PhD degree and is usually completed in two years full time or longer part time (with minimum time of 1 year subject to exceptional progress). It is designed to give candidates research experience over a short period of time. A first degree with first or second class honours is generally required for admission to the degree programme.

Doctor of Engineering Practice: Students who completed Master of Engineering Studies in our school with at least a Credit grade average are encouraged to apply. The degree requirement is that the candidate shall complete a total of 144 credit points comprising the postgraduate Units of Study totalling 48 credit points and a doctoral seminar program and a thesis totalling 96 credit points.

Current research and facilities in Civil Engineering

The School of Civil Engineering contains 5 main research groups; Wind Engineering and Fluid Mechanics, Geotechnical Engineering, Structural Engineering, Project Management, and the Ocean Technology Group that carries out research in the environmental and marine sciences.

The School is involved in two Research Centres, the Australian Research Council’s Special Research Centre for Offshore Structures (COFS) and the Cooperative Research Centre for Welded Structures. Research is also supported by Wind Engineering Services, The Centre for Advanced Structural Engineering, the Centre for Geotechnical Research and the Civil Engineering Foundation.

Visit the research pages of our website to read about some of our recent projects or download some of our research reports.

The University of Sydney - Civil Engineering

Research Degrees - PhD and Masters

Current research and facilities in Civil Engineering