MSc in Civil Engineering
University of Lisbon - Instituto Superior Técnico
Key Information
Campus location
Lisbon, Portugal
Languages
English, Portuguese
Study format
On-Campus
Duration
4 semesters
Pace
Full time
Tuition fees
EUR 7,000 / per year
Application deadline
Request info *
Earliest start date
Request info
* 1st phase: 18/02/2022 - 2nd phase: 31/05/2022
Introduction
The civil engineering profession allows those who embrace it to participate in the rational, efficient, and environmentally sustainable control of the forces of Nature for the benefit of the populations. As a civil engineer, one is the protagonist or participant of an adventure: improving humanity’s well-being and quality of life. Civil engineers have the duty to ensure the security of structures and systems that are vital for the operation of modern societies and they carry on their shoulders the responsibility for countless lives; the failure of a structure such as a bridge, a dam, or a building always leads to catastrophic consequences.
Have you ever thought about the best way to supply water to a region? And how to assess the rehabilitation of construction so that it will be fit for the next earthquake and guarantee the survival of its users? Or what is the best way to organize the transportation system of a region or a town? These are typical interventions of civil engineers among many others; they are characterized by their unique nature, large scale, and high visibility.
Gallery
Ideal Students
Holders of a Bachelor’s degree matching scientifically with the MSc in Civil Engineering degree can apply, namely holders of a Bachelor’s degree in Civil, Mechanical, Environmental, Geological, Mining and Energetic Resources, and related areas.
Since its foundation, Técnico has produced civil engineers that intervene worldwide, formerly with special emphasis within the Portuguese-speaking world, but nowadays virtually in any country around the globe. Due to the prestige of the degree and of its graduates, we constantly receive requests for the disclosure of job offers to the most diverse locations in the world.
Typically, master students have an age where their attitude towards life and towards their future profession is forged and where disruptive ideas pop up. Técnico guarantees (i) the conditions for any creative mind to give birth to his/her dreams either during the MSc dissertation or during a Ph.D. thesis, and (ii) support to those with ideas and entrepreneurial spirit through the Técnico Spin-Off community, a structure that intends to promote the creation of companies by our students. The civil engineering graduates from Técnico, with their vocation and ability to work in various continents, embody the innate spirit of adventure and entrepreneurship that the Portuguese have revealed consistently over the centuries. If you are the kind of person who dares to discover “new worlds” we are particularly interested in you! Join us at Civil Engineering in Técnico, Lisboa, on a journey of discovery together!
Admissions
Curriculum
The MSc in Civil Engineering of Técnico (120 ECTS) is structured on a semester basis with an average of six curricular units per semester and a total duration of four semesters, the last semester is devoted to the dissertation (ECTS = European Credit Transfer System). It consists of courses in (i) different Civil Engineering areas (69 ECTS), (ii) elective courses (21 ECTS), and (iii) a dissertation (30 ECTS), developed during the last semester.
The MSc in Civil Engineering of Técnico has a main core formed by eight curricular units complemented by five specialization areas:
- Construction;
- Geotechnics;
- Hydraulics and Water Resources;
- Structures;
- Urban planning, Transports, and Systems.
These specialization areas cover the entire field of civil engineering, and each student is free to choose one of these five areas. Each of these areas has specific curricular units, some mandatory and some optional. Elective courses can be selected to complement the education in specific Civil Engineering topics or in other scientific domains – for this purpose, an 18 ECTS minor can be completed in different Departments of Técnico.
Specialization in Construction
1st year, 1st semester
Concrete Structures I (6 ECTS credits) | Transport Infrastructures (6) | Geotechnical Structures II (6) | Steel Structures I (3) | Buildings Construction Technology (6) | Construction Organization and Management I (3).
1st year, 2nd semester
Structural Design (6 ECTS credits) | Sanitary Engineering (6) | Construction Pathology and Rehabilitation (6) | Construction Organisation and Management II (3).
Option 1 - One among: Digital Technologies in Civil Engineering (6) | Composites for Civil Engineering Structures (6) | Masonry and Timber Structures (6) | Modelling of Geotechnical Structures (6) | Built Environment Impact (6) | Free Optional or Minor (6).
Option 2 - One among: Free Optional (3) | Entrepreneurship and Business (3) | Extracurricular Activities I (3).
2nd year, 1st semester
Building Services (6) | Construction Materials II (6) | Construction Planning and Control (6).
Option 3 - One among: Comfort and Energy Use in Buildings (6) | Protection, Repair and Strengthening Materials (6) | Free Optional or Minor (6).
Option 4 -One among: Construction and Real Estate Economics (6) | Construction Life Cycle (6) | Free Optional or Minor (6).
2nd year, 2nd semester
MSc dissertation in Civil Engineering (30 ECTS credits).
Specialization in Geotechnics
1st year, 1st semester
Concrete Structures I (6 ECTS credits) | Transport Infrastructures (6) | Geotechnical Structures II (6) | Steel Structures I (3) | Buildings Construction Technology (6) | Construction Organization and Management I (3).
1st year, 2nd semester
Structural Design (6 ECTS credits) | Sanitary Engineering (6) | Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering (6) | Geotechnical Characterisation and Observation (3).
Option 1 - One among: Digital Technologies in Civil Engineering (6) | Composites for Civil Engineering Structures (6) | Masonry and Timber Structures (6) | Modelling of Geotechnical Structures (6) | Built Environment Impact (6) | Free Optional or Minor (6).
Option 2 - One among: Free Optional (3) | Entrepreneurship and Business (3) | Extracurricular Activities I (3).
2nd year, 1st semester
Numerical Methods in Geotechnics (6 ECTS credits).
Option 3 - One among: Landfill Structures (6) | Special Foundations (6).
Option 4 - One among: Excavations and Retaining Structures (6) | Underground Space (6).
Option 5 - One among: Landfill Structures (6) | Special Foundations (6) | Free Optional or Minor (6).
Option 6 - One among: Excavations and Retaining Structures (6) | Underground Space (6) | Free Optional or Minor (6).
2nd year, 2nd semester
MSc dissertation in Civil Engineering (30 ECTS credits)
Specialization in Hydraulics and Water Resources
1st year, 1st semester
Concrete Structures I (6 ECTS credits) | Transport Infrastructures (6) | Geotechnical Structures II (6) | Steel Structures I (3) | Buildings Construction Technology (6) | Construction Organization and Management I (3).
1st year, 2nd semester
Structural Design (6 ECTS credits) | Sanitary Engineering (6) | Hydraulic Works (6 ECTS credits) | Hydropower Systems (3).
Option 1 - One among: Digital Technologies in Civil Engineering (6) | Composites for Civil Engineering Structures (6) | Masonry and Timber Structures (6) | Modelling of Geotechnical Structures (6) | Built Environment Impact (6) | Free Optional or Minor (6).
Option 2 - One among: Free Optional (3) | Entrepreneurship and Business (3) | Extracurricular Activities I (3).
2nd year, 1st semester
Hydraulics and Maritime Works | Water Resources Modelling and Planning (6) | Water and Wastewater Treatment Plants (6).
Option 3 - One among: Urban Drainage and Pollution Control (6) | Free Optional or Minor (6).
Option 4 - One among: Fluvial Hydraulics and Rehabilitation (6) | Free Optional or Minor (6).
2nd year, 2nd semester
MSc dissertation in Civil Engineering (30 ECTS credits).
Specialization in Structures
1st year, 1st semester
Concrete Structures I (6 ECTS credits) | Transport Infrastructures (6) | Geotechnical Structures II (6) | Steel Structures I (3) | Buildings Construction Technology (6) | Construction Organization and Management I (3).
1st year, 2nd semester
Structural Design (6 ECTS credits) | Sanitary Engineering (6) | Concrete Structures II (6) | Steel Structures II (3).
Option 1 - One among: Digital Technologies in Civil Engineering (6) | Composites for Civil Engineering Structures (6) | Masonry and Timber Structures (6) | Modelling of Geotechnical Structures (6) | Built Environment Impact (6) | Free Optional or Minor (6).
Option 2 - One among: Free Optional (3) | Entrepreneurship and Business (3) | Extracurricular Activities I (3).
2nd year, 1st semester
Structural Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering (6 ECTS credits).
Option 3 - One among: Steel and Composite Structures (6) | Finite Elements (6) | Bridges (6).
Option 4 - One among: Structural Buildings (6) | Structures Rehabilitation and Repairing (6) | Special Structures (6)
Option 5 - One among: Steel and Composite Structures (6) | Finite Elements (6) | Bridges (6) | Free Optional or Minor (6)
Option 6 - One among: Structural Buildings (6) | Structures Rehabilitation and Repairing (6) | Special Structures (6) | Free Optional or Minor (6)
2nd year, 2nd semester
MSc dissertation in Civil Engineering (30 ECTS credits).
Specialization in Urban planning, Transports, and Systems
1st year, 1st semester
Concrete Structures I (6 ECTS credits) | Transport Infrastructures (6) | Geotechnical Structures II (6) | Steel Structures I (3) | Buildings Construction Technology (6) | Construction Organization and Management I (3).
1st year, 2nd semester
Structural Design (6 ECTS credits) | Sanitary Engineering (6) | Urban Planning (6 ECTS credits) | Elements of Urban Engineering (3).
Option 1 - One among: Digital Technologies in Civil Engineering (6) | Composites for Civil Engineering Structures (6) | Masonry and Timber Structures (6) | Modelling of Geotechnical Structures (6) | Built Environment Impact (6) | Free Optional or Minor (6).
Option 2 - One among: Free Optional (3) | Entrepreneurship and Business (3) | Extracurricular Activities I (3).
2nd year, 1st semester
Data Analysis and System Evaluation (6 ECTS credits).
Option 3 - One among: Transport Infrastructures Maintenance (6) | Railway Engineering (6) | Road Traffic Engineering (6) | Planning and Management of Urban Mobility (6) | Freight Transport and Logistics (6).
Option 4 - One among: Transport Infrastructures Maintenance (6) | Railway Engineering (6) | Road Traffic Engineering (6) | Planning and Management of Urban Mobility (6) | Freight Transport and Logistics (6) | Solid Waste Management (6) | Urban Management and Real Estate Economics (6) | Environmental and Land Use Planning (6) | Projects and Contracts (6).
Option 5 - One among: Transport Infrastructures Maintenance (6) | Railway Engineering (6) | Road Traffic Engineering (6) | Planning and Management of Urban Mobility (6) | Freight Transport and Logistics (6) | Free Optional or Minor (6).
Option 6 - One among: Transport Infrastructures Maintenance (6) | Railway Engineering (6) | Road Traffic Engineering (6) | Planning and Management of Urban Mobility (6) | Freight Transport and Logistics (6) | Solid Waste Management (6) | Urban Management and Real Estate Economics (6) | Environmental and Land Use Planning (6) | Projects and Contracts (6) | Free Optional or Minor (6).
2nd year, 2nd semester
MSc dissertation in Civil Engineering (30 ECTS credits).
Rankings
The Civil Engineering area of the University of Lisbon is ranked 2nd in Europe in the 2021 NTU Taiwan Ranking and 17th in Europe in the 2021 Shanghai Ranking.
Program Outcome
The main purpose of the Master (MSc) in Civil Engineering is to teach how to conceive, design, and exploit systems that, make the best use of natural resources, allow their appropriate use by the population, with special emphasis on improving the quality of life. Técnico aims at providing you with a rich and unique university experience. Our students are not considered mere clients as we consider them as true partners with whom we intend to establish a relationship of mutual trust leading to a robust preparation in civil engineering.
Subjects as diverse as mechanics of materials, hydraulics, construction, geotechnics, or systems' engineering are part of the training in civil engineering, making it a very versatile profession and enabling civil engineers to act in diverse and sometimes even complementary sectors, such as:
- Design, construction, and maintenance of buildings and bridges;
- Hydraulic works, the use of water and environmental resources;
- Geotechnical structures;
- Transport, infrastructures, and systems,
- Urban and environmental planning and management.
Técnico’s MSc in Civil Engineering offers a very diversified set of skills allowing our graduates to adapt easily to the sudden changes of the labor market under volatile economic conditions. The curricular plan in civil engineering at Técnico is based on the development of a very diversified set of skills that allow future civil engineers to integrate into a wide range of professional activities, in circumstances similar to those provided by the reference institutions of university education in the European space.
Career Opportunities
Civil engineers trained at Técnico integrate themselves easily into the job market since employers continue to seek, in the higher education provided by Técnico, the remarkable qualities systematically demonstrated over time by their professionals. The labor market is extremely diverse, but the following more typical activities may be highlighted:
- Design offices;
- The various industries linked to the construction sector (contractors, control, real estate);
- Infrastructure companies (water, sanitation, electricity, gas, road networks);
- Central, regional, and municipal administration bodies;
- Operations maintenance and management activities;
- The tasks of project evaluation and consulting in many companies (banks and insurance companies);
- Several technical and commercial activities;
- Research and industrial development laboratories.
In the exercise of their profession, civil engineers intervene specifically in the following activities: Structural projects (buildings, bridges, dams, special structures); Geotechnical and soil modeling projects; Projects of systems and networks of water, sanitation, and solid waste; Projects for interventions in existing constructions; Demolition and recycling projects for construction and demolition waste; Projects of communication and transportation routes; Fluvial and maritime hydraulics projects; Works management; Supervision of constructions; Production of materials and components and development of construction processes; Quality and safety management at construction work; Maintenance of projects; Evaluation of heritage and property.