Program Overview

PhD Admissions

Esteemed Faculty. Interdisciplinary Research.

When you join the thriving, interdisciplinary research community at Duke CEE, you gain access to unique opportunities in translational research. The Duke Civil Engineering & Environmental Engineering PhD program offers you opportunities to develop your research skills in close collaboration with our world-renowned experts.

Guaranteed Funding

Duke provides significant financial support to PhD students. This includes:

• Guaranteed pay, 12 months a year, for the first five years
• Paid Tuition: Covered by Duke during the first five years of study
• No Fees: For the first five years, Duke pays all mandatory fees
• Insurance Coverage: For six years, Duke pays your health and dental premiums

Focused on Making a Better World

The Duke Civil Engineering & Environmental Engineering PhD program is focused on making a better world. The program offers opportunities to develop your research skills in close collaboration with world-renowned experts.

Areas of Expertise

The program has several areas of expertise, including:

• Environmental Health Engineering
• Computational Mechanics & Scientific Computing
• Geomechanics & Geophysics for Energy and the Environment
• Risk & Resilient Systems
• Hydrology & Fluid Dynamics

Applying to Duke

Application Deadline

The application deadline is the first Monday in December.

Benefits for CEE PhD Students

Benefits for CEE PhD students include:

• Direct admission to a research group
• 100 percent financial support during the duration of your studies, plus national and international travel opportunities
• Dedicated career development support, such as our innovative PhD Plus program
• Representation in SAGE, our graduate student association

Location

The engineering campus adjoins one of the nation’s most esteemed academic medicine enterprises—Duke University Medical Center. The campus is also close to Research Triangle Park, a 7,000-acre home to nearly 400 science and technology firms, government agencies, academic institutions, startups, and nonprofits.

No Undergraduate Engineering? No Problem.

We admit competitive applicants with academic backgrounds in areas other than civil or environmental engineering. To help them be well-prepared for our graduate programs, these applicants may be required to take some undergraduate courses in engineering. Some of these undergrad courses may be counted toward a Master of Science or PhD.

World-Class Engineering Research

As a Duke Civil Engineering & Environmental Engineering PhD student, you’ll have opportunities to develop your research skills in a uniquely interdisciplinary environment. Duke CEE faculty members are engaged in a wide range of efforts to improve the resilience of engineered structures, develop advanced computer models of complex natural phenomena, and investigate approaches to predicting, monitoring, and managing human impacts on air, water, land, and global cycles—and environmental effects on human health. Our faculty engineering researchers work closely and collaboratively with other Duke faculty in physics, chemistry, computer science, and in the nearby Duke University Nicholas School of Environment. This breadth of expertise is reflected in all our research programs.