Research Overview

Students listening to professor Kenichi Soga in lab

UC Berkeley’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering leads the world academically and intellectually. We are defining our field by the choices we make in research efforts and programmatic priorities. The Department’s Strengths are reflected in its continued high (usually #1) departmental rankings and success in attracting and retaining top-ranked faculty and top caliber students. Our current faculty includes eight National Academy of Engineering members, Editors for the most prestigious journals in the field, and multiple young investigator award winners. Our collaborative spirit in research is exemplified by leading research centers, such as PEER, ReNUWIt, Berkeley ITS, SimCenter, the Center for Smart Infrastructure Institute, and more. CEE works closely with California government agencies, as well as many national government agencies and NGOs. Our students have gone on to highly successful and impactful careers, creating a strong and supportive group of alumni. These human resources--faculty, students, and alumni—are unquestionably our department’s greatest and most enduring strength.

The coming century will be characterized by profound changes across the planet. Population growth and global climate change are already transforming society through accelerating urbanization, increasing insecurity of our food and water resources, over-consumption, rising seas, global epidemics, and more frequent and severe extreme weather events. At the same time, the infrastructure systems of the 20th Century were not created to address the coming challenges. They are deteriorating and becoming less functional.

The Civil and Environmental Engineering Department’s Overarching Strategic Priorities are based on consensus among Faculty and are identified in our Strategic Plan as follows:

  • Smart, Sustainable Cities and Regions
  • Adaptive and Resilient Infrastructure
  • Sustainable Air, Soil, Water and Energy Resources

In this section of the website, you can find more information about our Research Center’s, our Facilities, as well as news related to research activities.