Civil Engineering, Ph.D. Distance Learning

About the project

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Choose which start date.

• October 2027 Apply Now

Choose which start date.

• October 2027 Apply Now

Key Course Details

Start Date | Tuition Fees - Year 1

Oct 2026 | £ 5,238

Oct 2027 | £ 5,450

Start Date | Tuition Fees - Year 1

Oct 2026 | £ 25,000

Oct 2027 | £ 26,250

• Location: Bay Campus
• Location: Bay Campus

Top 201-275 in the World (Engineering – Civil & Structural)

• Top 201-275 in the World (Engineering – Civil & Structural): QS World University Rankings by Subject 2026

Course Overview

Swansea University has been at the forefront of international research in Civil and Computational Engineering for over 50 years. From the 1960s onwards, the Department of Civil Engineering was home to the internationally recognised researcher Prof Olek Zienkiewicz, known as one of the pioneering developers of the Finite Element Method (FEM). This fundamental technique lies at the heart of most modern engineering computation and simulation software in use today.

The Department of Civil Engineering is ranked:

Today the Department of Civil Engineering possesses both strength and breadth in many key areas of modern Civil Engineering research, with research groups active in the following research themes:

Coastal and Water Engineering Research Group: Our researchers use novel computational modelling, Artificial Intelligence techniques, and experimental and field-derived data to investigate coastal processes, hydrometeorology, river dynamics, and flood risk, covering both fundamental and applied research.

Transportation Engineering: Transportation infrastructure serves as a crucial foundation for our society. Our researchers use cutting-edge technologies to develop resilient, sustainable and intelligent transportation systems that address the urgent challenges caused by the climate emergency. Their innovative work spans self-powered smart sensing, self-healing road materials, low-carbon-asphalt, wireless sensor networks for intelligent transportation monitoring, physics-informed machine learning for advanced data analysis, and energy harvesting on road infrastructures.

Civil Engineering Materials and Sustainable Practice: We use our extensive laboratory facilities and cross-disciplinary expertise to partner with industry to investigate a diverse range of novel sustainable construction materials, with a focus on low-carbon and sustainable materials. Themes of research include low-carbon concretes, alkali-activated cementitious mortars, ultra high performance concretes, geopolymers and recycled aggregates.

Solids, Structures and Coupled Systems: Our researchers develop leading edge computational strategies to simulate a wide range of physical problems and engineering applications covering broadly the area of solids, structures and coupled systems. The main topics include computational solid mechanics, materials modelling, fracture mechanics, frictional contact, granular media, geomechanics and fluid-structure Interaction.

Computational Engineering: Our researchers develop cutting-edge computational methods to simulate a variety of physical phenomena, including fluids, solids, wave propagation and multi-physics problems. The research involves fundamental developments in numerical methods, mesh generation, reduced order models and machine learning as well as their application to industrial problems.

Your studies will be supported by an international community of over 500 postgraduate students and 120 research staff within Engineering.

You can find out more about our academic staff, research publications and areas of supervision at Civil Engineering Research Expertise .

• 18th in the UK for Career Prospects (Guardian University Guide 2026)
• 22nd in the UK overall (Daily Mail 2026)
• Top 201-275 in the World for Engineering – Civil & Structural (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2026), and
• 100% of our Research Environment is Ranked as World-leading and Internationally Excellent (REF 2021)

Entry Requirements

We consider all applicants on their own merits and welcome applications from students with a wide range of qualifications.

Entry Requirements

Note for international and European applicants: details of how your qualification compares to the published academic entry requirements can be found on our Country Specific Entry Requirements page.

Qualifications MPhil: Applicants for MPhil must normally hold an undergraduate degree at 2.1 level (or Non-UK equivalent as defined by Swansea University) in Engineering or similar relevant science discipline.

PhD: Applicants for PhD must normally hold an undergraduate degree at 2.1 level (or Non-UK equivalent as defined by Swansea University) in Engineering or similar relevant science discipline.

English Language IELTS 6.5 Overall (5.5+ each comp.) or Swansea University recognised equivalent. Full details of our English Language policy, including certificate time validity, can be found here .

We welcome applications by prospective students from around the world and look for evidence of previous study that is equivalent to the entry requirements stated above. The Postgraduate Admissions Office are happy to advise you on whether your qualifications are suitable for entry to the course you would like to study. Please email admissions@swansea.ac.uk for further information.

As well as academic qualifications, Admissions decisions may be based on other factors, including (but not limited to): the standard of the research synopsis/proposal, performance at interview, intensity of competition for limited places, and relevant professional experience.

Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS) Requirement

Non UK/EU applicants are required to obtain ATAS clearance for this programme of study. Successful applicants are sent ATAS application details by the University PGR Admissions team. Further details on the ATAS scheme can be found at on the government Academic Technology Approval Scheme webpage .

Reference Requirement

As standard, one reference is required before we can progress applications to the Faculty research programme, academic Admissions Tutor for consideration.

Please note that any protracted delay in receiving the outstanding reference may result in the need to defer your application to a later potential start point/entry month, than what you initially listed as your preferred start option.

You may wish to consider contacting your referee to assist in the process of obtaining the outstanding reference or alternatively, hold submission of application until a reference is sourced. Please note that it is not the responsibility of the University Admissions Office to obtain missing reference after our initial email is sent to your nominated referee, requesting a reference on your behalf.

The reference can take the form of a letter on official headed paper, or via the University’s standard reference form. Click this link to download the university reference form .

Alternatively, referees can email a reference from their employment email account, please note that references received via private email accounts, (i.e. Hotmail, Yahoo, Gmail) cannot be accepted.

References can be submitted to pgradmissions@swansea.ac.uk .

How you are Supervised

Your supervisor will:

• Help you develop your research plan in the early stages of your PhD
• Advise on research aims and objectives and suggest relevant training or skills courses
• Provide direction in terms of relevant literature and sources
• Give guidance on gathering, recording and analysing data
• Supervise your written work, providing constructive criticism and ensuring you keep to deadlines
• Support and advise you when it comes to presenting papers at conferences, publishing your work and attending your viva (the final oral examination of your thesis)

No Provision

Unfortunately, there is currently no formal Welsh-medium provision on this course. If you would like to let us know that you are interested in pursuing an element of your course through the medium of Welsh, please email us to indicate your interest along with your year of entry and we will do our best to see what is possible.

Whilst this course does not offer academic content delivered in Welsh, the University can provide you with the following, and Academi Hywel Teifi is here to support you:

To learn more about the above and all the opportunities available to you through the medium of Welsh, visit Academi Hywel Teifi's undergraduate pages .

• An interview through the medium of Welsh when applying for a place.
• The option to receive your personal correspondence in Welsh, English or bilingually.
• The option to write and submit your coursework or exams through the medium of Welsh (even if you have chosen to study in English), and your work will be marked in Welsh.
• A Welsh-speaking Personal Tutor.
• One-to-one support through the medium of Welsh to improve your academic skills.
• An opportunity to gain an additional free qualification that serves as evidence of your Welsh language ability for future employers, namely the WJEC and Coleg Cymraeg's Welsh Language Certificate.
• Opportunity to be a member of the Swansea University Branch of the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol.

Tuition Fees

Start Date | UK | International

October 2026 | £ 5,238 | £ 25,000

October 2027 | £ 5,450 | £ 26,250

Tuition fees for years of study after your first year are subject to an increase of 3%.

You can find further information of your fee costs on our tuition fees page .

Note: The 2027/2028 UK fee is indicative pending confirmation from UKRI.

You may be eligible for funding to help support your study. To find out about scholarships, bursaries and other funding opportunities that are available please visit the University's scholarships and bursaries page .

Current students: You can find further information of your fee costs on our tuition fees page .

Funding and Scholarships

You may be eligible for funding to help support your study.

Government funding is now available for Welsh, English and EU students starting eligible postgraduate research programmes at Swansea University. To find out more, please visit our postgraduate loans page.

To find out about scholarships, bursaries and other funding opportunities that are available please visit the University's scholarships and bursaries page.

Academi Hywel Teifi at Swansea University and the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol offer a number of generous scholarships and bursaries for students who wish to study through the medium of Welsh or bilingually. For further information about the opportunities available to you, visit the Academi Hywel Teifi Scholarships and Bursaries page.

Additional Costs

Access to your own digital device/the appropriate IT kit will be essential during your time studying at Swansea University. Access to wifi in your accommodation will also be essential to allow you to fully engage with your programme. See our dedicated webpages for further guidance on suitable devices to purchase, and for a full guide on getting your device set up .

You may face additional costs while at university, including (but not limited to):

• Travel to and from campus
• Printing, photocopying, binding, stationery and equipment costs (e.g. USB sticks)
• Purchase of books or texts
• Gowns for graduation ceremonies

How to Apply

Once you have identified a topic area within which you would like to work, we recommend that you submit a research proposal and discuss this with an Admissions Tutor for the subject area before making an application.

Application Deadlines can be found on our Application Deadlines webpage.

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Programme Disclaimer

The University will seek to deliver each course in accordance with the descriptions set out in the relevant course web pages at the time of application. However, there may be situations in which it is desirable or necessary for the University to make changes in course provision, either before or after enrolment.

The information below is for students starting their courses in 2016 or later.

The University will not normally make very substantial changes to courses (for example, a change to the course title, significant restructuring, substantial change in course content, or the introduction of a progression hurdle) which would impact on students who have already begun their course. In exceptional circumstances, it may be necessary for the University to make such a change after acceptance of a place by an offer-holder. This will not happen less than 5 months before enrolment. The offer-holder will be notified of the change and will have the opportunity to withdraw their application and apply elsewhere.

Other changes could be made to course content, study location, delivery and teaching provision because of developments in the relevant subject, enhancements in teaching or assessment practice, requirements of external accreditation processes, changes in staffing, resource constraints or changes in the availability of facilities. Such changes will take account of the reasonable expectations of prospective and current students.

Research areas