Concentrations (Required)

Climate Impacts Engineering
Construction Engineering
Energy Science and Engineering
Environmental Engineering
Geotechnical/Materials Engineering
Public Works Engineering
Structural Engineering
Transportation Engineering
Water Resources Engineering

Campus Code

Knoxville Campus

Admissions Standards/Procedures

• All applicants to the degree programs must submit scores from the General Graduate Record Examination (GRE).

Credit Hours Required

72 graduate credit hours beyond the bachelor’s degree (excludes credit hours for the Master’s thesis)

Required Courses

• CE 600  (24 credit hours)
• 18 credit hours of graduate courses in Civil Engineering (CE) or Environmental Engineering (ENVE), exclusive of thesis or dissertation credit.
• A minimum of 18 graduate credit hours Civil Engineering (CE), Environmental Engineering (ENVE), or related scientific and engineering fields such as Chemistry (CHEM), Mathematics (MATH), Microbiology (MICR), Physics (PHYS), and other engineering fields, subject to approval by the student’s faculty committee.
  • A minimum of 6 graduate credit hours of Mathematics (MATH) will be required beyond the civil engineering undergraduate requirements.
• At least 6 credit hours of the above coursework must be at the 600-level.

Additional Course Requirements

• Concentration Specific Courses. Students select from among those listed and others as chosen in consultation with the major professor and guidance committee.
  • Climate Impacts Engineering
    • ENVE 511 , ENVE 512 , ENVE 558 , ENVE 561 , ENVE 562 , ENVE 574 , ENVE 577 , ENVE 671 , ENVE 672  
    • ENVE 595  (topics and availability vary each semester)
    • ENVE 691  (topics and availability vary each semester)
  • Construction Engineering
    • CE 581 , CE 582 , CE 583 , CE 681  
  • Energy Science and Engineering
    • Core Curriculum: ESE 511  and ESE 512  (6 credit hours)
    • Knowledge Breadth Curriculum (3 credit hours): select one course from the following areas. Specific courses are selected in consultation with the major professor and guidance committee.
      • Political, social, legal, ethical, and security issues related to energy (e.g., POLS, PHYS, ESE)
      • Entrepreneurship, leadership, and management (e.g., IE, ME, MGT, SES)
      • Additional courses may be selected in consultation with the Bredesen Center’s Director or major professor
    • Knowledge Specialization Curriculum (6 credit hours): choose two courses from participating department as defined in the Bredesen Center Graduate Student Handbook. Specific courses are selected in consultation with the major professor and guidance committee.
      • Bioenergy and biofuels (e.g., EEB, MICR, BCMB, CBE, LFSC, PLSC)
      • Cross-cutting energy sciences (e.g., MICR, ECE, CHEM, PHYS, MATH, STAT)
      • Distributed energy and grid management (e.g., ECE)
      • Energy conversion and storage (e.g., CBE, CHEM, ME MSE, PHYS)
      • Energy materials (e.g., MSE, PHYS)
      • Environmental and climate sciences related to energy (e.g., GEOL, MICR, BCMB, EEB, ESS, FORS, GEOL, LFSC, MICR, PLSC, ENVE, FWF)
      • Nuclear energy (e.g., NE, CHEM, ME, PHYS)
      • Renewable energy (e.g., MATH, CBE, ENVE, ME, STAT)
      • Transportation sciences (e.g., CBE, CE, ECE, ME)
    • ESE 599  (1 credit hour) taken three times for 3 credit hours
  • Environmental Engineering
    • ENVE 511 , ENVE 512 , ENVE 513 , ENVE 550 , ENVE 558 , ENVE 574  
  • Geotechnical/Materials Engineering
    • CE 521 , CE 522 , CE 525 , CE 530 , CE 531 , CE 532 , CE 535 , CE 538 , CE 539 , CE 630 , CE 632 , CE 633 , CE 634 , CE 691  
  • Public Works Engineering
    • Transportation Engineering (3 courses). Select from CE 521 , CE 551 , CE 552 , CE 553 , CE 558  
    • Construction Engineering (1 course). Select from CE 581 , CE 582  
    • Environmental Engineering (2 courses). Select from ENVE 525 , ENVE 530 , ENVE 558  
  • Structural Engineering
    • CE 472 , CE 474 , CE 560 , CE 561 , CE 562 , CE 565 , CE 571 , CE 573 , CE 574 , CE 576 , CE 671 , CE 674  
  • Transportation Engineering
    • CE 547 , CE 548 , CE 550 , CE 551 , CE 552 , CE 553 , CE 554 , CE 556 , CE 557 , CE 558 , CE 559 , CE 651 , CE 652 , CE 653  
  • Water Resources Engineering
    • ENVE 511 , ENVE 512 , ENVE 513 , ENVE 515 , ENVE 516 , ENVE 525 , ENVE 526 , ENVE 527 , ENVE 530 , ENVE 533 , ENVE 544 , ENVE 615 , ENVE 620 , ENVE 653  
    • CE 485  (GEOL 485 )
    • ENVE 595  (topics and availability vary each semester)
• At the discretion of the student’s dissertation committee and depending on the student’s background, more than 36 credit hours of graduate courses may be required.
• A maximum of 24 credit hours from the master’s degree may be used to satisfy the course requirements for the PhD.

Non-Course Requirements

• One foreign language if the student’s faculty committee feels that a reading knowledge of a foreign language is crucial to the student’s research efforts.
• Upon completion of at least one-half of all coursework, each student must pass a comprehensive examination.
• After completion of the dissertation, prior to graduation, each student must pass a dissertation defense examination administered by a faculty committee.