Earth and Environmental Engineering (EngScD, PhD)

Doctoral Programs

EEE offers two doctoral degrees:

  • the Eng.Sc.D. degree, administered by Columbia Engineering; and
  • the Ph.D. degree, administered by the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

Doctoral Qualifying Examination and Research Proposal

Before the end of the first semester in the doctoral program, the student and their adviser will set up an advisory committee of two or three faculty members. This committee will meet at least once a semester to assess the academic and research progress of the student and to recommend corrective action in case of emerging or existing deficiencies.

Doctoral students are required to pass a qualifying exam within their first year into the program. They will submit and defend their research proposal approximately one year after successful completion of the qualifying exam. Submission of the dissertation and thesis defense will follow general University rules.

The qualifying examination will be an oral exam administered by three faculty members. The adviser of the student will be a member of the exam committee but may not be the chair. The students will be examined in their understanding of fundamentals as they apply in the areas of research of the department: water resources, materials processing, energy, and chemical and biochemical processes. It is expected that each question period will last about 20 minutes, of which 15 minutes will be led by the faculty member from the area and the remaining 5 minutes will be open for questions by all faculty present at the exam. There will be a final period of 20 minutes for general questions.

All graduate students are expected to have a background equivalent to the required core of our undergraduate program. They have, of course, an opportunity to make up for any deficiency in their master’s program. In order to be prepared for the exam, students can take at least one course in each core area during their first two semesters at Columbia (see website for up-to-date course listing). In case the student declares an explicit minor in another department, the qualifying exam requirements will be modified in consultation with the graduate committee. The minor has to be approved by both departments.

The engineering objectives of EEE research and education include:

  • Provision and disposal of materials: environmentally sustainable extraction and processing of primary materials; manufacturing of derivative products; recycling of used materials; management of industrial residues and used products; materials-related application of industrial ecology.
  • Management of water resources: understanding, prediction, and management of the processes that govern the quantity and quality of water resources, including the role of climate; development/operation of water resource facilities; management of water-related hazards.
  • Energy resources and carbon management: mitigation of environmental impacts of energy production; energy recovery from waste materials; advancement of energy efficient systems; new energy sources; development of carbon sequestration strategies.
  • Sensing and remediation: understanding of transport processes at different scales and in different media; containment systems; modeling flow and transport in surface and subsurface systems; soil/water decontamination and bioremediation.