Master of Science in Civil Engineering
The Master programme in Civil Engineering focuses on the study and design of buildings and structures (roads, bridges, hydraulic structures, industrial buildings and high-rise), and aims at the formation of civil engineers who can function at high level in an international industrial and social context.
What
The master's programme in Civil Engineering focuses on the study and design of buildings and structures (roads, bridges, hydraulic structures, high-rise and industrial buildings) and aims for the formation of civil engineers who can perform at a high level in an international industrial and social environment. The programme concentrates on the thorough development of the conception and design capability, with the added objective of a job in research and development. Thus lies in the core curriculum of training a pronounced emphasis on the computational aspects of buildings and infrastructure. By means of elective courses, students can select additional aspects of the field corresponding to the personal aptitude and interests. These elective courses also aim to broaden the training programme.
Remarks
For whom
The admission requirements vary. Depending on your preliminary training, you are either able to enrol directly, or there are additional requirements.
Structure
The master’s programme in Civil Engineering consists of two phases: the first phase takes three years and leads to the academic degree of bachelor of engineering, whereas the second phase takes two years and leads to the degree of master of science in civil engineering. During the master’s programme students can opt for a deepening or broadening training, by either choosing a Major (depth) or Minor (broadening), or through a comprehensive package of elective courses.
> Construction Design
In the Major Construction Design some specific engineering disciplines are refined. This gives the graduate the baggage to work in the construction industry, having at the same time a broader and a more specialised technological knowledge. In particular, this set of courses pays attention to the conceptual and computer-aided design of structures, structural stability, seismic design, spatial structures, glass and facade structures.
> Dredging and Offshore Engineering
In the Major Dredging and Offshore Engineering a profound knowledge in the field of coastal and offshore engineering is pursued through a coherent set of courses that meet the requirements of the industry in this field. Given the enduring pressure on coastal regions worldwide, there is a sustained growth of coastal and offshore engineering constructional activities (e.g. sea defence, wind farms, platforms, land reclamation, artificial islands,...) and associated dredging activities. During the course the basic knowledge of maritime technology (ship construction, stability and motions in harbours and approach channels) is addressed. The principles of dredging techniques are treated, with regard to dredging processes and soil mechanical aspects. A deeper understanding and modelling of hydrodynamic loads by waves and currents on coastal and offshore structures, and of coastal zone processes, are taught. The Major centers on the design and construction of offshore structures, including ocean energy conversion (wind, waves and tide), geotechnical aspects of offshore foundations.
Labour Market
Due to the rate of technical developments, highly skilled workers are required in the construction industry now more than ever. A Master of Civil Engineering designs and leads the construction and management of roads, bridges, hydraulic and coastal structures, high-rise and industrial buildings. Major employers of the graduates are construction companies, engineering and consultancy companies, manufacturers of building components, dredging contractors, the administration of the Flemish Region Infrastructure department, provincial and municipal technical services and associations. Civil engineers are also employed in architectural offices and monitoring agencies, insurance companies, banks, real estate companies ...
Quality Assurance
At Ghent University, we strive to educate people who dare to think about the challenges of tomorrow. For that purpose, we provide education that is embedded in six strategic objectives: Think Broadly, Keep Researching, Cultivate Talent, Contribute, Extend Horizons, Opt for Quality.
Ghent University continuously focuses on quality assurance and quality culture. The Ghent University's quality assurance system offers information on each study programme’s unique selling points, and on its strengths and weaknesses with regard to quality assurance.
More information:
Unique Selling Points
- Broad programme with many prospects of the future: The civil engineering programme’s goal is to train critical and scientific-based engineers who can be internationally employed in the broad field of civil engineering. As a consequence the job market has a large number of opportunities to offer, both technical and non-technical: engineering offices, contractors, civil administrations, research and development, banks and insurances, consultancy.
- Talent development: Our students have a certain freedom of choice to compose their study programme according to their own interests. They have the possibility to subscribe to a specialisation package (construction design, dredging & offshore hydraulics or business administration), to subscribe to elective courses (technical and social), and to choose the subject of their master’s dissertations. Many students also subscribe to a national or international business apprenticeship in their programme.
- Projects and group work: In every year we offer at least one project course in which the students learn to handle multidisciplinary tasks in a goal-oriented way. To this purpose they cooperate in teams, because of which they also learn gradually a whole range of “soft skills” like planning, persuading, presenting efficiently, giving feedback to one another, and reporting. In addition to this they have to execute assignments in group for various course units in the bachelor and master programmes, in which real-life issues are covered.
- Well-equipped laboratory infrastructure: The programme can take advantage of well-equipped laboratories, some of which are of an international level.
- Student organisation: The civil engineers’ student organisation Poutrix, provides a unique “ecosystem” with extracurricular activities (e.g. guest lectures, building site visits, company visits, courses, job fairs, annual trips), which are often organised in collaboration with the teachers.
Strengths
- High level: Graduates experience that the programme has a good reputation both nationally and internationally, because of which they have no difficulty in finding suitable jobs at a high level.
- Motivated team of teachers: The programme is supported by committed teachers who combine their research expertise with an enthusiasm to keep dedicating themselves to the quality of their classes. The teachers, including guest professors from practical sectors, are internationally active and see to a good link with the practice.
- Student satisfaction: The official student questionnaires show that the students are very satisfied, both with regard to quality, organisation, consistency, and with regard to the programme’s content.
- Approachability: Our teachers and study Programme Committee are extremely approachable for students. This way problems can be quickly discovered and tackled.
- Evaluation: Our students appreciate that they are well-informed about the way in which they are evaluated and about the content of the evaluations because they know exactly what to expect.
Weaknesses
- Sustainability: Aspects of the environment and sustainability are incorporated in various course units, but the students do not experience this as such. We will have a closer look on how to make it more explicit.
- Workload: We need to make sure that the master programme’s workload does not increase. We will examine whether it is achievable to make a better planning and to coordinate the content of the various projects.
- Internationalisation: The master programme in English scores high on internationalisation in the official student evaluation. Nevertheless, we need to keep on rising to the challenges like the quality control of the foreign students’ inflow and a better development of the internationalisation at our university.
This study programme is accredited by the Accreditation Organization of the Netherlands and Flanders (Dutch: NVAO). Accreditation was extended following the positive outcome of the institutional review in 2017. Programme quality was validated by a quality review (peer-learning visit) in 2018. A screening of the Education Monitor by Ghent University’s Education Quality Board is planned in the years 2021-2024. .
This information was last updated on 01/06/2021.
In case of questions or suggestions with regard to the publicly available information, please contact the study programme.