Your complete guide to studying Civil Engineering & Construction

Everything you need to know about studying Civil Engineering & Construction in 2023

part of Engineering & Technology

Civil Engineering & Construction deals with designing, building and maintaining the infrastructure we rely on daily: buildings, roads, bridges, water and energy systems, waste networks, and many more. People who work in Civil Engineering & Construction need to adapt plans and structures and find solutions to complex problems such as the increase of human population or natural disasters.

In order to practice as a civil engineer you will need to know a lot about the properties of construction materials, such as concrete or steel, and how construction machinery functions. With their extensive knowledge, engineers can design structures that meet requirements for cost, safety, reliability, durability and energy efficiency. You will be involved in all stages of a construction project, from the selection of the building site, writing specifications for processes and materials, hiring subcontractors, ensuring safety compliance with building codes, and supervising all phases of construction. Civil engineers rely on computer-aided design (CAD) systems. CAD systems make it easy to modify designs and generate blueprints for construction projects.

Some of the specialisations included by Civil Engineering are Transport Engineering, Environmental Engineering, and Geotechnical Engineering.

During a Civil Engineering degree, you will learn how to follow construction safety standards as well as building regulations. You will learn how to manage building projects, do all the calculations and make adjustments where necessary. Other important construction aspects you’ll have to keep in mind are: environmental impact, durability, and using the right construction materials for the projects you will be working on.

Courses provided by Civil Engineering degrees will challenge your problem-solving abilities. You’ll have to tackle problems such as completing your construction project with a limited amount of resources. If you want to become a successful civil engineer, you will also need creativity and the ability to adapt to unpredicted changes in your planning.

You will be able to choose between two general career paths. You’ll either work in an office, dealing with design projects, requests and meeting with clients, or be more hands-on and work directly in construction projects. If working on a construction site sounds appealing to you, you’ll have the chance to be a valuable member of a team that takes a plan on a piece of paper and transforms it into reality.

Students who graduate with degrees in Civil Engineering & Construction can work in the public or private sector. Here are some popular careers people go for: construction engineer, structural engineer, water resource engineer, and building control surveyor.

Read more

View all Short Courses in Civil Engineering & Construction

Interesting programmes for you

Best Universities for Civil Engineering & Construction on ShortCoursesPortal

Sort by Ranking...
Universities Location Shanghai Jiao Tong University Ranking (2017) TopUniversities Ranking (2018)
Tongji University Shanghai, China 1 37
Lehigh University Bethlehem, United States 2 151
ETH Zurich - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich, Switzerland 3 10
University of Texas at Austin Austin, United States 4 20
Universidad Politécnica de Madrid Madrid, Spain 5 51
Tsinghua University Beijing, China 6 5
National Technical University of Athens Athens, Greece 7 42
University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, United States 8 2
University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign Urbana, United States 8 19
University of Canterbury Christchurch, New Zealand 10 51
University of New South Wales Kingsford, Australia 11 16
University of Western Ontario London, Canada 12 151
University of California, San Diego San Diego, United States 13 51
Nanyang Technological University Singapore, Singapore 14 22
University of California, Davis Davis, United States 15 51
University at Buffalo Buffalo, United States 16 151
University at Buffalo SUNY - School of Engineering and Applied Sciences Buffalo, United States 16 151
The University of Tokyo Tokyo, Japan 17 12
Texas A&M University College Station, United States 18 38
University of Toronto Pickering, Canada 19 31
Purdue University West Lafayette, United States 20 28
Dalian University of Technology Dalian, China 21 151
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Hong Kong, Hong Kong (SAR) 22 10
Seoul National University Anyang, South Korea 23 24
The University of Hong Kong Hong Kong, Hong Kong (SAR) 24 9
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne Lausanne, Switzerland 25 -
Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) Delft, Netherlands 26 7
University of Stuttgart Stuttgart, Germany 26 51
Virginia Tech Blacksburg, United States 28 51
McMaster University Hamilton, Canada 29 151
Harbin Institute of Technology Harbin, China 30 101
Southeast University Nanjing, China 31 151
University of Sydney Sydney, Australia 32 21
University of Michigan Ann Arbor, United States 33 27
McGill University Montréal, Canada 34 51
Zhejiang University Hangzhou, China 35 51
University of Adelaide Adelaide, Australia 36 51
Stanford University Stanford, United States 37 7
Shanghai Jiao Tong University Shanghai, China 38 32
University of Auckland Auckland, New Zealand 39 38
Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, United States 40 17
University of British Columbia Vancouver, Canada 41 30
Hunan University of Arts & Science (Changde University) Changde, China 42 -
University of Lisbon Lisbon, Portugal 43 51
Colorado State University Fort Collins, United States 44 -
Sapienza University of Rome Roma, Italy 45 101
Politecnico di Milano Milano, Italy 46 14
Pennsylvania State University State College, United States 47 51
Imperial College London London, United Kingdom 47 4
Islamic Azad University Of Dezful Shushtar, Iran 49 -
University of Alberta Edmonton, Canada 50 101
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Thessaloníki, Greece 101 101
Carleton University Ottawa, Canada 101 -
Central South University Changsha, China 101 -
Chongqing University Chongqing, China 101 -
Clemson University Clemson, United States 101 -
Concordia University Montréal Montreal West, Canada 101 151
Czech Technical University (CTU) Malá Strana, Czech Republic 101 51
Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) Eindhoven, Netherlands 101 -
Florida International University University Park, United States 101 -
Fuzhou University Fuzhou, China 101 -
Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh, United Kingdom 101 101
Hokkaido University Sapporo, Japan 101 101
Iowa State University Ames, United States 101 -
Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, United States 101 151
Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) Daejeon, South Korea 101 15
Michigan Technological University Houghton, United States 101 -
METU Middle East Technical University Ankara, Turkey 101 101
Missouri University of Science and Technology Rolla, United States 101 -
National Cheng Kung University Tainan, Taiwan 101 51
National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (Taiwan Tech) Taipei, Taiwan 101 101
National University of Defense Technology Changsha, China 101 -
University Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier Toulouse, France 101 -
Queensland University of Technology Brisbane, Australia 101 51
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy, United States 101 -
RMIT University Melbourne, Australia 101 51
Sharif University of Technology Tehran, Iran 101 -
Technical University of Denmark (DTU) Copenhagen, Denmark 101 47
Technion - Israel Institute of Technology Haifa, Israel 101 151
The University of Edinburgh Edinburgh, United Kingdom 101 51
Melbourne Business School Melbourne, Australia 101 25
Tianjin University Tianjin, China 101 151
Tohoku University Sendai-shi, Japan 101 51
Tokyo Institute of Technology Shinagawa-ku, Japan 101 43
University of California, Irvine (UCI) Irvine, United States 101 -
University of Cantabria Santander, Spain 101 -
University of Central Florida Alafaya, United States 101 -
University of Connecticut Storrs, United States 101 -
University of Genoa Genoa, Italy 101 -
University of Houston Houston, United States 101 -
University of Malaya Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 101 51
University of Maryland College Park, United States 101 101
University of Nebraska-Lincoln Lincoln, United States 101 -
University of Nevada, Reno Reno, United States 101 -
University of Pavia Pavia, Italy 101 151
University of Perugia Perugia, Italy 101 -
University of Sao Paulo São Paulo, Brazil 101 51
University of Southampton Southampton, United Kingdom 101 101
University of Southern California Los Angeles, United States 101 101
University of Strathclyde Glasgow, United Kingdom 101 -
Bogazici University Istanbul, Turkey 151 -
California Institute of Technology - Caltech Pasadena, United States 151 51
Pontifical Catholic University of Chile Villa Presidente Frei, Ñuñoa, Santiago, Chile, Chile 151 51
Chalmers University of Technology Göteborg, Sweden 151 51
Changsha University of Science & Technology Changsha, China 151 -
Curtin University Perth, Australia 151 101
Drexel University Philadelphia, United States 151 -
Ghent University Ledeberg, Belgium 151 101
Hanyang University Seoul, South Korea 151 43
Huazhong University of Science and Technology Wuhan, China 151 151
Indian Institute of Technology Madras Perungudi, India 151 101
Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee Roorkee, India 151 101
INSA Toulouse - Institut National des Sciences Appliquées Ramonville-Saint-Agne, France 151 -
Iran University of Science and Technology Tehran, Iran 151 -
Istanbul Technical University Istanbul, Turkey 151 101
King Abdulaziz University Jeddah, Saudi Arabia 151 -
Kyungpook National University Daegu, South Korea 151 -
Universidade Nova de Lisboa Lisbon, Portugal 151 -
Newcastle University Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom 151 151
Polytechnic University of Bari Bari, Italy 151 -
Portland State University Portland, United States 151 -
Toronto Metropolitan University Toronto, Canada 151 -
Southwest Jiaotong University Chengdu, China 151 -
Swinburne University of Technology Hawthorn East, Australia 151 151
Tarbiat Modares University Tehran, Iran 151 -
Technical University of Munich München, Germany 151 48
Technical University of Crete Soúda, Greece 151 -
The University of Alabama Tuscaloosa, United States 151 -
The University of Manchester Manchester, United Kingdom 151 36
The University of Texas at Arlington Arlington, United States 151 -
Université Grenoble Alpes Grenoble, France 151 -
University of Bristol Bristol, United Kingdom 151 101
University of Catania Catania, Italy 151 -
University of Cyprus Nicosia, Cyprus 151 -
The University of Exeter Exeter, United Kingdom 151 151
University of Liège Liège, Belgium 151 151
University of Nevada, Las Vegas Las Vegas, United States 151 -
University of New Brunswick Fredericton, Canada 151 -
University of Palermo Palermo, Italy 151 -
University of Salerno Fisciano, Italy 151 -
University of Science and Technology of China Hefei, China 151 -
University of Sherbrooke Sherbrooke, Canada 151 -
University of Technology Sydney Sydney, Australia 151 101
University of Trento Trento, Italy 151 151
University of Wisconsin Madison Madison, United States 151 101
Utah State University Logan, United States 151 -
Vilnius Gediminas Technical University Vilnius, Lithuania 151 101
Wuhan University Wuhan, China 151 101
Xiamen University Xiamen, China 151 -
Aalborg University Aalborg, Denmark 201 51
Aalto University Helsinki, Finland 201 101
Ain Shams University Cairo, Egypt 201 -
American University of Beirut Beirut, Lebanon 201 -
Amirkabir University of Technology Tehran, Iran 201 -
Auburn University Auburn, United States 201 -
Beijing Normal University Beijing, China 201 -
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Beersheba, Israel 201 -
Brigham Young University Provo, United States 201 -
Cardiff University Cardiff, United Kingdom 201 101
Chung-Ang University Seoul, South Korea 201 -
City, University of London London, United Kingdom 201 -
The City University of New York New York City, United States 201 -
Dankook University Suwon, South Korea 201 -
Durham University Durham, United Kingdom 201 -
Fudan University Shanghai, China 201 -
Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi New Delhi, India 201 51
King Saud University Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 201 151
KTH Royal Institute of Technology Stockholm, Sweden 201 41
Kyung Hee Cyber University Seoul, South Korea 201 -
Luleå University of Technology Luleå, Sweden 201 -
Marche Polytechnic University Ancona, Italy 201 -
Nanjing Forestry University Nanjing, China 201 -
Nanjing University of Technology Nanjing, China 201 -
Nanjing University Nanjing, China 201 -
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens Athens, Greece 201 -
National Autonomous University of Mexico Coyoacán, Mexico 201 101
National Central University Taoyuan City, Taiwan 201 -
University Kebangsaan Malaysia Semenyih, Malaysia 201 101
Northwestern Polytechnical University Yuxia, China 201 -
Osaka University Osaka-shi, Japan 201 151
Peking University Beijing, China 201 51
University of Plymouth Plymouth, United Kingdom 201 -
Qatar University Umm Salal Mu, Qatar 201 -
Queen's University Kingston, Canada 201 151
RWTH Aachen University Aachen, Germany 201 51
Sejong University Kuri, South Korea 201 151
Shandong University Jinan, China 201 -
Shenzhen University Shenzhen, China 201 -
South Dakota State University Brookings, United States 201 -
Sun Yat-sen University Guangzhou, China 201 -
Sungkyunkwan University Seoul, South Korea 201 51
Braunschweig University of Technology Braunschweig, Germany 201 -
Texas Tech University Lubbock, United States 201 -
Catholic University of America Washington, D. C., United States 201 -
The Ohio State University Upper Arlington, United States 201 151
The University of Akron Akron, United States 201 -
University of Calgary Calgary, Canada 201 101
University of Dundee Dundee, United Kingdom 201 -
University of Queensland South Brisbane, Australia 201 51
The University of Western Australia Perth, Australia 201 48
Trinity College Dublin Dublin, Ireland 201 -
Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology Ulsan, South Korea 201 -
Universidade da Coruña Corunna, Spain 201 -
University College London (UCL) London, United Kingdom 201 51
University of Arkansas Fayetteville, United States 201 -
Universidade de Aveiro Aveiro, Portugal 201 -
University of Bath Bath, United Kingdom 201 151
University of Belgrade Belgrade, Serbia 201 -
University of Bradford Bradford, United Kingdom 201 -
University of California, Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, United States 201 -
University of Chile Lo Prado, Chile 201 101
University of Cincinnati Cincinnati, United States 201 -
University of Delaware Newark, United States 201 -
University of Florence Florence, Italy 201 -
University of Granada Granada, Spain 201 -
University of Kansas Lawrence, United States 201 -
University of Leeds Leeds, United Kingdom 201 51
University of Ljubljana Ljubljana, Slovenia 201 -
University of the Andes Bogotá, Colombia 201 -
University of Massachusetts Amherst Amherst Center, United States 201 -
University of Missouri - Columbia Columbia, United States 201 -
University of Montpellier Montpellier, France 201 -
Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU) Munich München, Germany 201 -
University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna Vienna, Austria 201 -
University of Oklahoma Norman, United States 201 -
University of Oslo Oslo, Norway 201 -
University of Oxford Oxford, United Kingdom 201 13
University of Padua Padua, Italy 201 101
University of Parma Parma, Italy 201 -
University of Pisa Pisa, Italy 201 -
University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, United States 201 -
University of Porto Porto, Portugal 201 51
University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon, Canada 201 -
Savoie Mont Blanc University Chambéry, France 201 -
University of South Australia Adelaide, Australia 201 -
University of Tabriz Tabriz, Iran 201 -
University of Tennessee Knoxville Knoxville, United States 201 -
University of Utah Salt Lake City, United States 201 -
Wageningen University and Research Wageningen, Netherlands 201 -
University of Warwick Coventry, United Kingdom 201 151
Waseda University Nerima, Japan 201 151
Washington State University Pullman, United States 201 -
Wuhan University of Technology (WUT) Wuhan, China 201 -
Yildiz Technical University Sisli, Turkey 201 -
Yonsei University Seoul, South Korea 201 45
Zhejiang University of Technology Hangzhou, China 201 -
Beijing Jiaotong University Beijing, China 51 -
City University of Hong Kong Kowloon, Hong Kong (SAR) 51 46
Griffith University Southport, Australia 51 -
Kyoto University Kyoto, Japan 51 18
Lund University Lund, Sweden 51 51
Monash University Notting Hill, Australia 51 29
National Taiwan University Taipei, Taiwan 51 33
National University of Singapore Singapore, Singapore 51 5
Northwestern University Evanston, United States 51 51
Oregon State University Corvallis, United States 51 -
Polytechnic University of Catalonia Esplugues de Llobregat, Spain 51 34
Politecnico di Torino Turin, Italy 51 35
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Hong Kong, Hong Kong (SAR) 51 26
University of Sheffield Sheffield, United Kingdom 51 50
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Los Angeles, United States 51 40
University of Coimbra Coimbra, Portugal 51 101
University of Colorado at Boulder Boulder, United States 51 101
University of Minnesota Twin Cities Minneapolis, United States 51 -
University of Montreal Montréal, Canada 51 101
University of Naples Federico II Naples, Italy 51 51
University of Notre Dame South Bend, United States 51 -
University of Tehran, Kish International Campus Kish, Iran 51 151
University of Washington Seattle, United States 51 51
University of Waterloo Waterloo, Canada 51 51
University of Wollongong Wollongong, Australia 51 101
Arizona State University Tempe Junction, United States 76 151
Columbia University New York City, United States 76 51
Cornell University Ithaca, United States 76 51
Korea University Seoul, South Korea 76 51
KU Leuven Brussels, Belgium 76 51
Louisiana State University Baton Rouge, United States 76 -
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Cambridge, United States 76 1
Michigan State University East Lansing, United States 76 51
North Carolina State University Raleigh, United States 76 101
Northeastern University Boston, United States 76 -
Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) Trondheim, Norway 76 51
Polytechnic University of Valencia Valencia, Spain 76 101
Princeton University Princeton, United States 76 51
Rice University Houston, United States 76 151
South China University of Technology Guangzhou, China 76 151
The University of Arizona Tucson, United States 76 -
University of Bologna Bologna, Italy 76 -
University of Cambridge Cambridge, United Kingdom 76 2
University of Florida Gainesville, United States 76 101
University of Minho Braga, Portugal 76 101
University of Nottingham Nottingham, United Kingdom 76 101
University of Ottawa Ottawa, Canada 76 -
University of Patras Ríon, Greece 76 101
Western Sydney University Paramatta, Australia 76 -
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne Lausanne, Switzerland - 23
Bologna Business School Bologna, Italy - 101
Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur Nawabganj, India - 101
Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur Khargapur, India - 101
Kyushu University Fukuoka, Japan - 101
Loughborough University Loughborough, United Kingdom - 101
Nagoya University Nagoya, Japan - 101
National Chiao Tung University Hsinchu, Taiwan - 101
TU Berlin Berlin, Germany - 101
University of Birmingham Birmingham, United Kingdom - 101
University of Liverpool Liverpool, United Kingdom - 101
University of Minnesota Minneapolis, United States - 101
University Putra Malaysia Kampong Baharu Balakong, Malaysia - 101
Vienna University of Technology Vienna, Austria - 101
Chulalongkorn University Bangkok, Thailand - 151
Darmstadt University of Technology Darmstadt, Germany - 151
Indian Institute of Science Bangalore, India - 151
INSA Lyon Lyon, France - 151
King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals Dhahran, Saudi Arabia - 151
Kyung Hee University Seoul, South Korea - 151
Pusan National University Yangsan, South Korea - 151
Swansea University Swansea, United Kingdom - 151
UNICAMP - University of Campinas Campinas, Brazil - 151
University of Aberdeen Aberdeen, United Kingdom - 151
University of California, Irvine Extension Irvine, United States - 151
University of Cape Town Cape Town, South Africa - 151
University of Salford Salford, United Kingdom - 151
Warsaw University of Technology Warsaw, Poland - 151
Xi'an Jiaotong University Xi'an, China - 151
Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, United States - 51
Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay Powai, India - 51
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) Karlsruhe, Germany - 51
TU Dresden Dresden, Germany - 51
University Sains Malaysia George Town, Malaysia - 51
University Teknologi Malaysia Sekudai, Malaysia - 51
University of Newcastle Newcastle, Australia - 51
Show per page: 10 | 50 | 100

Specialisations within the field of Engineering & Technology

Wishlist

Go to your profile page to get personalised recommendations!