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The Graduate Handbook for the Department describes official degree requirements, residency, rules on transfer of courses, etc. In addition to the general information provided here, please refer to sections of the Graduate Handbook for the Structures Program.

PhD in Structural Engineering and Structural Mechanics

• Strong Demand from Industry & Government

  • High-end consulting firms

  • Not-for-profit research organizations

  • R&D groups in large organizations

  • Government research organizations, regulatory agencies

  • National laboratories

• Growing Demand Over Next 10 Years for Professors

• 25-50% of Domestic PhD Students Enter Academia

• Substantial Salary Increase Compared to MS Degree

• Typically Requires 3 Years Additional Study Beyond MS Degree

PhD Road Map

• MS Degree

• Continued coursework:

  • 8 graded courses total beyond MS

  • Only 2 of the 8 units may be taken from the MS core of CEE-470, 462, 463, 472, 471, 570

  • 4 of the 8 units must be at the 500 level.

  • Students often enroll in a variety of courses in other departments (CS, Math, MATSE, MIE)

  • Students must enroll in CEE-595S (seminar) every semester

• Start working on dissertation research

• Qualifying Exam (see details below)

• Complete remainder of coursework

• Preliminary Exam to approve dissertation plan

• Continue research full-time, attend conferences, write technical papers, complete dissertation

• Final Examination on dissertation research

Financial Aid, Advisors

• PhD students typically have half-time RAs or Fellowships

• Computational Science & Engineering (CSE) program available

• Faculty advisor plays key role in PhD studies

• Dissertation advisor

  • We do not "assign" students to dissertation advisors

  • Requires shared technical interests, compatible personalities

  • Most often the faculty member has obtained grant funding to support research work

  • Extensive one-to-one teaching, career mentoring

Qualifying Examination

• Students must pass a written Qualifying Exam for admission to PhD Candidacy in the structures program

• The written Qualifying Examination covers five core areas of structural engineering:

  • Analysis of truss and frame structures (list of specific topics)

  • Structural dynamics (list of specific topics)

  • Structural mechanics (list of specific topics)

  • Concrete structures (list of specific topics)

  • Steel Structures (list of specific topics)

  • A password-protected archive of prior QE sample problems may be downloaded from (the password may be obtained from the faculty member who is administering the QE examination):  UIUC Structures QE Archive

• Structural engineering PhD students must pass an offering of the Structures Qualifying Exam taken within 16 months of starting their post-MS graduate work

• The Qualifying Exam is offered in the Fall semester and the Spring semester each academic year

• Notices are posted throughout Newmark Lab at the beginning of each semester with details