Program outline of Civil Engineering (for International Master Students)

(Subject Code: 0814)

Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the built environment, including works like buildings, roads, bridges, tunnels, etc. This discipline aims to meet the increasing demand for humanities and to achieve more safe, economic and eco-Friendly built environment. The discipline has four basic research areas: Geotechnical and Road Engineering, Structure and Bridge Engineering, Prevention and Reduction Engineering and Protective Engineering and Civil Engineering Construction and Management.

1. Objectives

1. Quality Requirements

   Graduates are required to have a rigorous academic attitude, noble academic ethics, strong innovation awareness, good teamwork spirit and more understanding of P. R. China.

2. Knowledge requirements

   Graduates are expected to have solid foundations in mathematics, physics, chemistry and English language. They should also have sound knowledge in mechanics, material, management, economics, structural analysis and design, control theory, etc.

   Extensive knowledge and application ability are required in the fields of geotechnical engineering, road engineering, structure engineering, bridge engineering, civil engineering construction and management. Graduates are expected to be acquainted with the trend of science and technology development as well as the frontier of the discipline and be familiar with the knowledge of related subjects.

3. Capacity requirements

   Graduates are expected to have the capabilities in doing scientific research independently, technological innovation and acquiring new skills at the highest level. They are also expected to be able to read and write academic literatures in English and carry out oral communications.

   2. Research orientations

   (1) Geotechnical and Road Engineering

   (2) Structure and Bridge Engineering

   (3) Prevention and Reduction Engineering and Protective Engineering

   (4) Civil Engineering Construction and Management

   (5) Gas Supply, HVAC and Municipal Engineering

   3. Study period and cultivating methods

   3.1. Study period

   The standard period for overseas master degree program is 3 academic years. In some special cases, the students can apply for extending the period up to 5 years. The application is valid every 6 months. Excellent students can apply to leave one year ahead if they have finished all parts of the program.

   3.2. cultivating methods

   (1) Through the study of Chinese and China's Panorama, master Chinese in some extent and understand the culture, politics, economics and history of China.

   (2) Complete the study of theoretical and specialized courses, get all credits, establish the fundamental theoretical knowledge system and systematic and scientific knowledge structure.

   (3) Broaden disciplinary expertise and master the frontiers and latest developments of this discipline by exercising literature retrieval, reading scientific literatures, participating in academic seminars, conferences and research activities.

   (4) Supervisors are serving as the first-in-charge of their students. Based on this program, a specific plan suitable for each candidate should be made after joint consultation. Interdisciplinary training is encouraged and co-supervises from another discipline can be invited if necessary.

   (5) Supervise the students in accordance with their knowledge structures and academic interests. Stimulate the students to explore and lucubrate the scientific issues related to this discipline. Pay attention to the cultivation of their' innovation ability. Students need to participate in research projects actively and carry on the systematic scientific training and project research under the direction of their supervisors.

   (6) Supervises should urge the students to complete their courses and provide guidance on the chosen of master thesis topic, literature reading, thesis proposal, thesis writing and dissertation defense.

   4. Cultivating module

   4.1 Course learning

   The total course credit is required to be 20 credits, referring to the Course schedule. To meet the training requirements for basic knowledges such as Chinese and Mathematics, 8-credit basic (including public and specialized) theoretical courses are set. The credits for specialized core and elective courses are 4 and 8, respectively. Noted that the department is entitled to require the students to change course if less than 5 students are enrolled in a specialized elective course.  

   4.2 Practice

    Scientific practice and experiment exploration are important segments for master students’ cultivation and also crucial means to cultivate the creative thinking and practical ability for master students. The main practice module including:

   (1) Dissertation proposal and defense

    The dissertation proposal should detailed demonstrate the significance of the topic, main research contents, expected objectives, research methods, implementation plans and time arrangement, etc. The dissertation proposal is required to be read out and defended and only those who pass the defense can enter the thesis research stage.

   (2) Graduation dissertation defense

   Master's dissertation is required to be in accordance with the regulations of dissertation compilation (GB/T 7713.1-2006). The dissertation should show certain new view, innovation or improvement in theoretical analysis, testing technology, data processing, equipment and process methods, etc., reflect theoretical knowledge and skills that required in this program, the ability to analyze and solve problems and the ability to connect theory with practice. In addition, the dissertation is also need to reflect the ability to be engaged in scientific research and paper workload. Those who pass the defense can enter the degree awarding process. A second defense will be made for those who fail after 6 months.

   4.3 Graduation dissertation

   Basic requirements for dissertation:

   (1) Normative requirements

   The composition, format, language expression, graphic expression, citation and annotation of the graduation dissertation should be standardized and rigorous.

   The following contents should be included:

1. Coverpage: title (Chinese and English), author, supervisor, subject category, major, affiliation, completion date.

2. The statements of originality authorization must be signed by the author and the supervisor.

3. Abstracts and keywords in both Chinese and English.

4. Table of contents, lists of formulas, charts, symbols and acronyms.

5. Text: Including the basis of topic selection, literature review, research content and results, conclusions and prospects.

6. References.

7. Appendix if necessary.

8. Acknowledgement.

   (1) Quality requirement

   The following requirement for the dissertation should be meet:

9. Paper work with full workload should be completed independently under the guidance of the supervisor.

10. The selected topic selection should have strong theoretical significance or practical value and the results are advanced and practical.

11. The dissertation is required to show the student have extensively read the relevant literature both at home and abroad. The literature review should clearly describe and analyze the domestic and overseas research status of the topic.

12. Scientific research subjects and complex engineering problems should be analyzed and studied by integrating the basic theory, professional knowledge and technical means such as experiment/numerical simulation. The method is scientific, the result is reliable, and certain technical difficulty or theoretical depth are also required.

13. The writing is required to have clear concept, reasonable structure, clear hierarchy, smooth content and standard format.

    5. Curriculum

    5.1 Basic theoretical courses (8 credits)

    The basic theoretical courses (8 credits), including public and mathematical courses are set for ideological education, foreign language ability and mathematical knowledge.

    5.2 Specialized core courses (4 credits)

    The specialized core courses (4 credits) are set for fundamental theories such as thermodynamics, kinetics, structure and properties of materials.

    5.3 Specialized elective courses (8 credits)

    The specialized elective courses (8 credits) are set for knowledge system of material preparation method, structure analysis, characterization technology, etc.

    Appendix: Curriculum and Cultivating module

Note: (1) Students who have obtained the credit of "general situation of China" in our school (the score is valid within 5 years) can apply for exemption. (2) Students who have obtained the credits of Chinese course (valid within 5 years) or have reached the new HSK level 5 (for science students) and the new HSK level 6 (for humanities students) in the Chinese language proficiency test can apply for exemption.