Your coursework is both an opportunity to further your mastery of civil engineering, and to enhance your discipline specific knowledge to enable you to successfully conduct your research. This will result in the need to take courses both within the civil engineering department, as well as take courses from other departments, such as statistics, computational and applied mathematics, mechanical engineering, among others. It is your responsibility to stay abreast of the posted graduate requirements for the Civil and Environmental Ph.D. program, which outline a list of required courses, minimum grade requirements, number of courses, etc. Please refer to our department website for updated versions of these requirements. However, I emphasize that these numbers are indeed minimum and both myself and your thesis committee will provide feedback on additional suggestions, needs and expectations for courses. I expect the minimum grade requirement should not be an issue, as you should excel in your courses as a Ph.D. student. Moreover, to ensure high quality and competency, you should expect to exceed the minimum course hour requirement by the time you graduate.
As a rough guide, in year 1, you should plan to take approximately 3 classes per semester. My expectation is that students in my group should be prepared to tackle both this course load and simultaneously begin your research foundations upon entering the program. Hence your focus should be on excelling in your courses, preparing for your preliminary exam, and leaving time for regular progress on your research. This will be further addressed below. It is important that you take courses that provide a broad foundation in civil engineering from various faculty members in our department who will be administering your preliminary exam. As an aside the related areas of your exam include advanced structural analysis and structural mechanics; structural dynamics; applied mathematics; and a specialty area. In this first year, it will also be important to take courses that provide a foundation for your research and for future courses you will be taking. Hence I urge you to also consider taking a very select couple of courses in CAAM, STATS, MECH, etc. in your first year.
In subsequent years, though your research will be your top priority, courses will be important to enhance your base in critical areas of civil engineering and develop knowledge and skills to conduct your research. Moreover, they often provide a fun and nice change of pace! You should plan to take roughly 1-2 classes per semester. Students that have entered the program directly from a B.S. may expect to maintain the 3 class per semester load for a longer period. My expectation is that prior to graduation any student in my group should complete advanced classes in such fundamental structural engineering topics as graduate level courses in mechanics, structural dynamics, steel design, concrete design, bridge engineering, structural and/or systems reliability, random vibrations, finite elements, numerical methods, among others. Core courses for most students in the group will also include courses in probability and statistics, risk assessment, and related topics. Research focuses will dictate whether advanced topics in fluid dynamics, materials science, design of statistical experiments, or even sustainable development or engineering economics among other topics, are necessary requirements. This will vary on an individual basis and also depend upon background and recommendations from myself, your examining committee, and thesis committee. You are encouraged to explore your options and consult with other instructors and students regarding course content, prerequisites, etc. Rice is full of talented professors and renowned experts in a range of disciplines who offer outstanding courses for your benefit. Take advantage!
Finally, it is a requirement to take and attend the departmental seminar every semester as a graduate student in our department. If you have needs to enhance oral or written communication skills in English, you should find ways to strengthen these. This includes thesis or technical writing courses, evening or leisure classes at Rice, etc. Most students in my group will be asked to explore such supplemental courses as Jan Hewitt’s technical writing course to enhance your paper and thesis writing.
