Graduate Requirements

Admission Prerequisites

Applicants for the Master's Degree typically will have completed (or will be nearing completion of) an undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering or related field. Applicants with other backgrounds will be considered based on their individual merit. 

A minimum background would consist of:

• 1.5 years of college-level calculus (e.g., Math 1A, 1B, 53, 54 or equivalent)
• 1 year of college-level physics (e.g., Physics 7A or equivalent)
• 1 semester of probability and statistics (e.g., CIV ENG 93 or equivalent)
• 1 computer programming course(s) (e.g., ENGIN 7 or equivalent)

For details on these courses, see https://guide.berkeley.edu/courses. 

Applicants for the PhD Degree typically will start their program by earning a Master's Degree at UC Berkeley and then transfer into the PhD program. Admission into the PhD program is based on the student's scholarly performance and research promise, and requires the support of a Construction Systems faculty who agrees to serve as their research adviser. 

You will find more general information about admission on the Graduate Division's website: Applying for Graduate Admission. This website specifies which applicants should take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) to demonstrate English proficiency. Our Civil and Environmental Engineering Department does not require that applicants provide a score for the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or any other subject test.

Course Descriptions

Degree Programs and classes are described in the Berkeley Academic Guide and specifically on the page Civil and Environmental Engineering (CIV ENG) course descriptions.

Berkeley Graduate Division's Degree Policy

All UC Berkeley graduate degree programs must conform to minimum requirements established by Graduate Division. See Degrees Policy.

Degrees

The Master of Science degree, Plan I and Plan II, consists of two semesters (Fall and Spring) of course work. Students may request to enroll a 3rd or 4th semester in order to complete a certificate's or thesis requirements. The majority of students pursue the Master of Science Plan II and complete it in one academic year (2 semesters).

The course sequence is structured to provide a strong preparation for both professional practice and further advanced studies in the area of construction engineering, management, and systems.

When starting a program of study, a student needs to tailor their course selections to suit their personal interest and goals while meeting the chosen degree requirements. Upon arrival on campus, each student will be matched with a Construction Systems faculty who will serve as their academic adviser regarding curriculum alternatives and choices. The student must get their academic adviser's approval for course selections no later than the second week of each semester. Failure to do so can impact graduation.

The Construction Systems degree program builds on application-specific courses in Construction, Engineering and Project Management, GeoSystems, and Structural Systems, in combination with technology-specific courses in computing, automation, sensing, or control.

NOTE - The vast majority of MS students in the Construction Systems Program enroll in Plan II, which has no thesis requirement. Therefore, the degree requirements for Plan II are described first, before those for Plan I.

Master of Science: Plan II

A student in the MS Plan II degree program must:

• Take 24 units of course work that includes:
  • Four "core" Construction Systems courses (each of 3 units or more, minimum 12 units total) selected from 
    • CIV ENG 268A Lean Construction Concepts and Methods, Tommelein, 3 units, Fall
    • CIV ENG 268H Advanced Project Planning and Control, Disney, 3 units, Fall
    • CIV ENG 278 Infrastructure Sensing and Modeling, Soga/Zekkos/Kayen, 3 units, Fall
    • CIV ENG 180 CEE Systems Design, Tuholski/Nguyen, 4 units, Spring
    • CIV ENG 68D Law for Engineers, Shumway, 3 units, Spring
    • CIV ENG 268G Ground Construction, Zekkos, 3 units, Spring
  • Two courses (each of 3 units or more, minimum 6 units total) selected from one or two focus areas:
    • Focus Area: Engineering and Project Management
      • CIV ENG 167 Engineering Project Management, Shami, 3 units, Fall                                    
      • CIV ENG 190 (CE166B) Heavy Civil Construction, Lessman, 3 units, Fall                                        
      • CIV ENG 166 Construction Engineering, Shami, 3 units, Spring
      • CIV ENG 268B Lean Construction and Supply Chain Management, Tommelein, 3 units, Spring
    • Focus Area: Civil Systems/Transportation                                         
      • CIV ENG 112 Water & Wastewater Systems Design and Operation, Soga, 3 units, Fall                                       
      • CIV ENG 290I Civil Systems: Control and Information Management, Sengupta, 3 units, Fall
      • CIV ENG 191 CEE Systems Analysis, Sengupta, 3 units, Spring
      • CIV ENG 291D Data-driven Control Methods for Civil Engineering, Delle Monache, 3 units, Spring
    • Focus Area: Geo Systems
      • CIV ENG 270 Advanced Geomechanics, Zekkos, 3 units, Fall                                      
      • CIV ENG 275 Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering, Bray, 3 units, Fall                                       
      • CIV ENG 281 Engineering Geology, Kayen, 3 units, Fall
      • CIV ENG 175 Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, Athanasopoulos Zekkos, 3 units, Spring
      • CIV ENG 272 Numerical Modelling in Geomechanics, Soga, 3 units, Spring
      • CIV ENG 277 Advanced Foundation Engineering, Bray, 3 units, Spring
    • Focus Area: Structural Engineering and Mechanics of Materials (SEMM)                                         
      • CIV ENG 220 Structural Analysis Theory and Applications, Konstantinidis, 3 units, Fall
      • CIV ENG 244 Reinforced Concrete Structures, Opabola, 3 units, Fall
      • CIV ENG 247 Design of Steel and Composite Structures, faculty, 3 units, Fall
      • CIV ENG 249 Experimental Methods in Structural Engineering, Mosalam, 3 units, Fall
      • CIV ENG 222 Finite Element Methods, faculty, 3 units, Spring
    • Two electives, which could be any of the courses listed above, or other courses in- or outside of CIV ENG, such as courses counting towards the Certificate in Applied Data Science (see below).
• Pass the Comprehensive Examination, a 3-hour closed-book written exam administered at the end of the spring semester. You must answer 3 questions, each addressing material covered in the "core" Construction Systems courses. You will receive a grade of Pass or No-Pass. If the latter, at the discretion of the faculty you may be allowed to retake the exam.

NOTE:

• Maximum 3 units of individual study (CIV ENG 299) may be counted toward the 24 units. 
• Up to 3 upper-division undergraduate courses (maximum 9-10 units of courses numbered 100-199) may be counted towards the 24 units.
• All coursework must be letter graded, except for CIV ENG 299, which is graded as Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory.

Master of Science: Plan I

A student in the MS Plan I degree program must take a minimum of 20 semester units of course work and complete a thesis. The Plan I student will:

• conduct research with a Construction Systems faculty adviser and submit a thesis that is approved by a Thesis Committee comprising this research faculty adviser and two other faculty members (two of whom must be Academic Senate members from the student’s major).

  and

• Take 20 units of upper-division (numbered 100-199) and graduate-level (numbered 200 and up) courses work of which:
  • Minimum 8 units of graduate-level "core" Construction Systems courses (see list in Plan II description).
  • Up to 4 units of individual study (CIV ENG 299), typicallly all supervised by your research faculty adviser .
  • Remaining units of UC Berkeley courses that are approved by your academic faculty adviser.

NOTE:

• No more than two upper-division undergraduate courses (maximum 6 units of courses numbered 100-199) may be counted towards the 20 units.
• All coursework must be letter graded, except for CIV ENG 299, which is graded as Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory.

Certificate Program in Applied Data Science

The Graduate Certificate in Applied Data Science provides you with an emphasis area within Construction Systems. This certificate is obtained free of charge (if you are a currently registered student), as long as you apply for it in a timely fashion.

The Certificate Program introduces the tools, methods, and conceptual approaches used to support data analysis and decision making in professional and applied research settings. It exposes students to the challenges of working with data (e.g., asking a good question, inference and causality, decision making) as well as to tools and techniques for data analytics (machine learning, data mining, and more). Courses iprovide hands-on practice working with unstructured and user-generated data to identify new ways to inform decision-making. The curriculum educates professionals and scholars to be intelligent consumers of data science techniques in a variety of domains, with a foundation of skills for applying these techniques in their own domains.

The certificate requires three graduate-level courses, taken from the approved lists posted at https://www.ischool.berkeley.edu/programs/data-science-certificate. Courses must be taken for a letter grade and completed with a grade of B or higher. 

By choosing MS Plan I or II degree electives judiciously, you can earn this certificate while at the same time meeting the 20- or 24-unit requirement. However some students request to stay a third semester at UC Berkeley to allow more time to take courses. 

PhD

Applicants for the PhD Degree typically will have completed (or will be nearing completion of) an undergraduate or master's degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering or related field, earned from an accredited institution or a recognized equivalent. Applicants with other backgrounds will be considered on their individual merit. Students with only an undergraduate degree must earn the master's degree while progressing towards the PhD.  

To continue in the PhD program, students must maintain a superior level of academic achievement in their course work and have the support of a Construction Systems faculty who agrees to serve as their research adviser.

• The recommended minimum number of units of formal course work (major and minors) is 33 units. The minimum major requirement is approximately 17 units (excluding research) of which 4 may be upper-division undergraduate courses. Two minor fields must be completed, only 1 of which can be within the College of Engineering. 
• Your major field of study comprise courses offered in the CEE department (12 units minimum), with related courses in other departments. Once you have chosen a field of study, you must confer with your academic- and with your research adviser to select the sequence of courses that will best prepare you for the preliminary exam, the qualifying exam, and research work.
• Select two minor fields of study, where only one can have CEE courses. Each minor constitutes 2-3 upper-division undergraduate- or graduate courses (at least 6 units of graduate courses).
• You must have a academic adviser to provide general academic guidance and to help with administrative matters, and a research adviser to supervise your dissertation research (it could be the same person). Your research adviser must be identified before you take the Preliminary Examination.
• Serving as a Graduate Student Instructor (GSI) for an approved course or the equivalent.
• Maintain a minimum GPA of 3.5 in the major and a minumum of 3.0 in the minor fields.

Students will have completed at least 3 units of individual study and research (CIV ENG 299) with an COS faculty member before taking the Preliminary Examination.

• PhD Preliminary Examination - see department handbook for additional detail.
  • The PhD Preliminary Examination Committee is made up of 3 members, including your research adviser in the Construction Systems program and at least one other faculty member in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at large. 
  • The student prepares a 20-30 page preliminary research proposal and shares it with the Committee at least 1 week before the exam. 
  • The Preliminary Exam is typically a 2-hour long oral exam, during which the student will present their proposed research, and will then be asked questions focusing on the completed course work and the proposed research. 
• PhD Qualifying Examination - see department handbook for additional detail.
  • You may take the Qualifying Examination during your last semester of courses if you have met the COS program-specific requirements. You should refrain from delaying this exam beyond the semester following completion of course requirements.
  • The PhD Qualifying Examination Committee is made up of 4 members, including one COS faculty member, at least one additional faculty from CEE, and at least one Senate faculty outside of CEE. The research/thesis advisor may be a member of the committee. 
  • The student prepares a 3-5 page summary of your dissertation research plan plus substantial 70-100 page research proposal, and shares it with the Committee no later than 2 weeks before the day of the exam.
  • The Qualifying Exam is typically a 3-hour long oral exam, during which the student will present their proposed research (~ 30 minutes), and will then be asked questions focusing on the completed- and perhaps future course work and the proposed research.
  • The Graduate Division sets the rules and regulations concerning the Qualifying Examination. If you fail the examination the first time, and a second examination is recommended, it must be given not less than 3 months after the first examination. Two failures in the Qualifying Examination constitute cause for denying you the privilege to continue in the Program.

The request for appointment of the Qualifying Examination Committee is made by submission of the Program of Study for Doctoral Candidates form ("White Card") to the CEE Academic Affairs Office no later than the second week of the semester after completion of the course requirements.

The CEE Vice-Chair for Academic Affairs reviews the plan of courses, the suggested Qualifying Examination committee, and the proposed dissertation topic. Approval by the Vice Chair for Academic Affairs is necessary prior to the formal request for appointment of the Qualifying Examination committee.

• Dissertation: A PhD student will select their dissertation topic by working with interested faculty member(s) qualified to supervise research in the chosen area of study. The PhD student and their research adviser will propose a Dissertation Committee to be appointed by the Dean of the Graduate Division. The dissertation must follow the guidelines in Graduate Division's Dissertation Writing and Filing. 

The PhD gets awarded after the student completes all requisite course work and files a dissertation approved by their Dissertation Committee and the Graduate Division.