Engineer your future
Our postgraduate programmes are designed to propel your career to the next level, whether you're continuing your studies or advancing as a working professional. Led by our world-class faculty and enriched by renowned international guests and industry experts, our programmes foster a dynamic and diverse community. Our graduates secure global employment.
We offer a range of postgraduate qualifications:
- Postgraduate Certificates in Engineering, Civil Engineering, and Architectural Engineering. These are bundles of four courses (usually one semester full-time equivalent).
- Master of Civil Engineering with different endorsements (specialisations). This is a one-year course-based programme.
- Master of Architectural Engineering, Master of Fire Engineering, Master of Engineering Studies endorsed in Renewable Energy. These are 1-year course-based programmes.
- Master in Engineering. This is a 1-2-year research-based degree.
- PhD in Engineering. This is a 3-year research-based degree.
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1. Postgraduate Certificates
We offer the following Postgraduate Certificates. These are bundles of four courses (usually one-semester full-time equivalent):
- Postgraduate Certificate in Engineering (PGCertEng)
- Postgraduate Certificate in Civil Engineering (PGCertCivilEng)
- Postgraduate Certificate in Architectural Engineering (PGCertArchEng)
2. Master of Civil Engineering (MCivilEng)
The Master of Civil Engineering is a course-based postgraduate programme comprising 8 courses (typically four per semester, but you can also enrol part-time).
Many of our postgraduate courses are taught in "block mode" to cater to both full-time students and working professionals. Remote study options are available for some courses.
There are different endorsements (specialisations) offered as part of the MCivilEng programme, but you can also take electives freely (unendorsed):
Construction Management is the overall project planning, coordination, and control from beginning to completion. Construction Project Management aims to meet a client's requirements to produce a functionally and financially viable project. The focus is on professional programmes that combine theory and application with a strong emphasis on applied management. The master's programme is an advanced curriculum designed to allow students to tailor a portion of the specialisation requirements to meet individual interests and goals.
The courses currently on offer in this endorsement include:
ENCI601 Risk Management
ENCM620 Construction Procurement and Contract Administration
ENCM630 Project Management, Planning and Control Techniques
ENCM650 Cost Engineering
ENCM682 Research Project (Taken as instructed)
ENCM 690 Construction Management Thesis
Transportation engineering covers all aspects of transportation-related issues, from determining the future transportation needs of a community or country to the performance of the materials that are used to construct roads. All modes of travel are covered, from pedestrians/cyclists to cars/trucks to buses/trains to ships and planes (although our programmes at Canterbury largely deal with land transport).
The courses currently on offer in this endorsement include:
ENCN 412 Traffic Engineering
ENCN 415 Pavement Engineering
ENTR 603 Advanced Pavement Design
ENTR 608 Traffic Management and Monitoring
ENTR 613 Highway Geometric Design
ENTR 614 Planning and Design of Sustainable Transport
ENTR 615 Advanced Traffic Flow Theory
Earthquake Engineering encompasses a broad range of activities that seek to minimise the damage and disruption communities suffer when hit by an earthquake. The University of Canterbury has a long history in earthquake engineering and has shown significant leadership over the years in this area on an international stage. As part of the earthquake engineering endorsement students are offered the opportunity to advance their knowledge of seismic risk, geotechnical and structural earthquake engineering and seismic resilience. The programme draws on significant lessons learnt from the 2010-2011 Canterbury earthquakes and the strong ties the college has with the industry, preparing graduates who are knowledgeable and highly employable.
The courses currently on offer in this endorsement include:
ENEQ610 Seismic Hazard and Risk Analysis
ENEQ620 Advanced Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering Engineering
ENCI621 Advanced Concrete Materials
ENEQ623 Finite Element Analysis
ENEQ624 Nonlinear Structural Analysis and Dynamics
ENEQ640 Displacement-based Design of Low Damage Buildings
ENEQ650 Advanced Steel and Composite Structures
ENEQ676 Advanced Reinforced Concrete
ENEQ682 Ground Improvement Techniques
ENAE 603 Structural Design Practice
ENAE 604 Structural Assessment and Retrofit
The courses specified under this endorsement develop specialist knowledge in Structural Engineering and produce graduates who have advanced skills to support a career in structural engineering of buildings and other structural systems. Complementing the structural engineering training offered separately within the MCivilEng endorsement in earthquake engineering, this endorsement aims to prepare graduates with a broader understanding of multi-performance objectives for structures and develop skills to deal with potentially critical non-seismic load cases such as wind and blast loading or vibration control.
The courses currently on offer in this endorsement include:
ENAE603 Structural Design Practice
ENAE604 Structural Assessment and Retrofit
ENCI436 Behaviour and Design of Structures 2
ENCI621 Concrete Materials
ENEQ 610 Seismic Hazard adn Risk Analysis
ENEQ623 Finite Element Analysis
ENEQ624 Nonlinear Structural Analysis and Dynamics
ENEQ640 Displacement based Design of Low Damage Buildings
ENEQ 650 Advanced Steel & composite Structures
ENCI 605 Mechanics of Solids
The courses specified under this endorsement develop specialist knowledge in Structural Fire Engineering and produce graduates who are competent structural engineers with competence in fire engineering. Graduates will obtain knowledge and skills related to general fire engineering, fire dynamics and modelling techniques in both structural and fire engineering. This will enable them to amalgamate the two disciplines in order to better predict and design structures for fire safety.
The courses currently on offer in this endorsement include:
ENFE601 Structural Fire Engineering
ENFE602 Fire Dynamics
ENFE610 Advanced Fire Dynamics
ENFE618 Advanced Structural Fire Engineering
ENGR403 Fire Engineering
The courses specified under this endorsement develop specialist knowledge in Geotechnical Engineering and produce graduates with critical competence in the non-linear behaviour of soils and foundations, preparing them for a career in geotechnical engineering. Graduates will have obtained knowledge of engineering seismology, geotechnical earthquake engineering, ground remediation techniques and other specialist geotechnical engineering topics such as soil-structure interaction.
The courses currently on offer in this endorsement include:
ENCN452 Advanced Geotechnical Engineering
ENCN454 Introduction to Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering
ENEQ610 Seismic Hazard and Risk Analysis
ENEQ620 Advanced Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering
ENEQ623 Finite Element Analysis
GEOL 479 Active Tectonics and Geomorphology
ENEQ682 Ground Improvement Techniques
Water engineering encompasses analysis and design of water supply and irrigation systems, stormwater and wastewater systems, water resource evaluation, flood and drought estimation and planning, fluid flow in complex natural environments, water resources management, design of hydraulic structures, assessment of environmental effects of discharges in water environments, water chemistry in engineered and natural systems, wastewater treatment and management of treatment residuals, water flow and quality modelling, groundwater quality and contaminated site management, rural and urban impacts on water environments. Relevant New Zealand stakeholders are WaterNZ, the Hydrological Society of New Zealand, the Waste Management Institute of New Zealand, and all levels of government, consultants, and construction companies.
The courses currently on offer in this endorsement include:
- ENCI634 Engineering Chemistry for Water Systems
- ENCI646 Flood Analysis, Modelling and Management
- ENCI648 Water Supply and Demand
- ENCI677 Advanced Wastewater Treatment
- ENCI693 Special Topic: Environmental Engineering Design Project
- ENCI609 Special Topic: Urban Stormwater Modelling
3. Master of Architectural Engineering, of Fire Engineering, of Engineering Studies endorsed in Renewable Energy.
Our Department also directs the following highly successful Master programmes:
- Master of Architectural Engineering (MArchEng)
- Master of Engineering Studies endorsed in Renewable Energy (MEngSt). For further details, see our Department site on Renewable Energy Engineering.
- Master of Engineering in Fire Engineering (MEFE). For further details, see our Department site on Fire Engineering.
4. Master of Engineering (research-based)
The Master of Engineering is a research-based masters degree. This programme can be completed within 1 to 2 years fulltime or up-to 4-years part-time.
5. PhD in Engineering (research-based)
Become an international leader! Our doctoral degrees are research-based, but you can enrol in our vast offer of postgraduate courses if you want. A PhD at UC takes 3-4 years full-time (part-time also available).
Our Department is involved in the PhD of Civil Engineering, Earthquake Engineering, Fire Engineering, Transportation Engineering, Water Resource Management, and Renewable Energy Engineering.
For information about the regulations: Doctor of Philosophy (PhD).
Facilities
Our Department has about world-class 50 academics and over 100 researchers. All research students have their office space, and other postgraduates have a dedicated computer suite.
We have high-tech laboratories, which you can explore below. 20 highly skilled, experienced technicians are instrumental to enable our experimental research.
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Lab facilities and tours
We have world-class labs related to structural-, geo-, and fluid-mechanics, pavement and traffic engineering, and fire and environmental engineering. Explore them!
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Lab facilities and tours
We have world-class labs related to structural-, geo-, and fluid-mechanics, pavement and traffic engineering, and fire and environmental engineering. Explore them!
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Lab facilities and tours
Our Faculty of Engineering has undergone a $140 million upgrade and boasts some of the most cutting-edge laboratories in the country.
