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Degree Programs

The Institute offers four graduate degree programs at two levels as follows:

Objectives of the programs

The objective of the programs at the Institute is to provide a sound professional and academic training to students in the field of civil engineering. Students in the program have access to a variety of graduate courses in their area of study and the opportunity to conduct leading edge research, covering the theoretical and the applied aspects of civil engineering.

The Institute aims to attract well-qualified students desirous of pursuing scholarly studies. The educational program of the Institute is designed to stimulate independent thinking, acquisition of knowledge, and application of the acquired knowledge and skills to the solution of practical engineering problems.

Master's Program

Admission Requirements

The minimum requirement for admission to a Master's Program is a baccalaureate degree, with at least a 70% average in Civil Engineering or the sub-disciplines normally considered to be part of Civil Engineering. Applications to a qualifying program will also be considered from graduates of other Engineering programs or Honours Science programs under the following conditions:

  1. Graduates from Engineering or Honours Science programs with a mathematics content equivalent to the Civil Engineering program will have to take a minimum of four qualifying undergraduate Civil Engineering courses in their area of graduate specialty;
  2. Graduates from other Science programs will have to take all the core Engineering undergraduate mathematics courses in addition to the requirements specified in (1) above.

The undergraduate courses required for the qualifying program will be specified in the Certificate of Admission.

Program Requirements

Study at the master's level can be pursued through a thesis to a M.A.Sc., a project option leading to a M.Eng., or a coursework option leading to a M.Eng.

Master of Applied Science (M.A.Sc.) with Thesis

The requirements are:

  1. A minimum of 3.0 course credits Carleton University or 18 course credits University of Ottawa obtained through course work;
  2. Participation in the Civil Engineering seminar series;
  3. Completion and successful oral defence of a research thesis (equivalent to 3.0 credits Carleton University or 18 credits University of Ottawa).

The program leads to the Master of Applied Science (M.A.Sc.) degree at the University of Ottawa and at Carleton University.

Master of Engineering (M.Eng.) — Project Option

The requirements are:

  1. 4.5 course credits Carleton University or 27 course credits University of Ottawa;
  2. A project equivalent to 1.5 course credits Carleton University or 9 course credits University of Ottawa.

Master of Engineering (M.Eng.) — Coursework Option

The requirements are:

  1. 6 course credits Carleton University or 36 course credits University of Ottawa.

Doctoral Program

Admission Requirements

The normal requirement for admission into the Ph.D. program is a Master's degree with thesis in Civil Engineering.

Program Requirements

The requirements for the Ph.D. degree, after the Master's degree, are as follows:

  1. A minimum of 2.5 course credits Carleton University or 15 course credits University of Ottawa;
  2. Participation in the Civil Engineering seminar series;
  3. Successful completion of written and oral comprehensive examination in subject areas determined by the Advisory Committee;
  4. Successful completion of a thesis proposal examination;
  5. Submission of thesis approved by the supervisor;
  6. Successful oral defence of the thesis; and
  7. Minimum two calendar years of full-time registration.

A Ph.D. candidate may take, or be required to take, courses in other disciplines depending on the recommendation of the Advisory Committee.

Students who have been permitted to transfer into the Ph.D. program from a master's program without having completed the master's degree requirements will require thirty course credits for the Ph.D. degree including the transferred credits from the unfinished master's program.

Language Requirements

All candidates must understand and speak fluently the language of instruction, which is English. International applicants whose native tongue is not English must supply proof of proficiency in the English language, which is usually provided by one of the following:

Course Credits

The requirements for coursework are specified in terms of credits. At Carleton University, 1.0 credit typically comprises three hours of lectures or seminars a week for two terms, or the equivalent. At the University of Ottawa, 1.0 course credit is one hour of instruction per week for one term. Thus 1.0 credit in Carleton University is equivalent to 6 course credits in the University of Ottawa notation. Most courses at the graduate level are single-term courses consisting of three hours of lectures per week, and are equivalent to 0.5 credits at Carleton University and 3 credits at the University of Ottawa.

The following restrictions apply:

  1. At least one half of the course work credited toward a degree must be taken at the Institute.
  2. Undergraduate Civil Engineering course credits cannot be accepted toward a graduate degree even if they were taken as a part of the program requirements.
  3. Credits by Individual Directed Studies can be accepted up to a maximum of 0.5 credits Carleton University or 3 credits Univesity of Ottawa toward a degree.