Phd (Third Cycle) Programme in Civil Engineering

General Information

The Civil Engineering Department of Niğde Ömer Halisdemir University launched its education activities in 1994-1995, by recruiting its first graduate students, and then undergraduate students in 19931994 educational term. Doctorate program in the department was started in 2011. The Department has a young, dynamic and complete academic staff of 18 people, consisting of 8 Professor, 3 Associate Professors, 4 Assistant Professors and 3 Research Assistants.

The Civil Engineering Department carries out prestigious academic and scientific studies in the field and offers a competent education with its dynamic and young academic staff conducting various scientific projects supported by The Scientific and Technology Research Council (TUBITAK) of Turkey, Ministry of Science, Industry and Technology.

Thanks to the bilateral agreements with EU countries and other countries, some of our graduate students continue their education abroad within the framework of Erasmus Program.

The Department consists of five Divisions: Geotechnics, Hydraulics, Mechanics, Transportation and Structures. Projects supported by Niğde Ömer Halisdemir University and Ministry of Science, Industry and Technology, etc, are carried out in the department.

With its classrooms equipped with computers and new laboratory equipment, and project supported, private-purpose research and development laboratories, the Civil Engineering Department raises competent civil engineers who contribute to today’s technology.  

Through the PhD (Third Cycle) programme, students develop skills to participate in scientific activities, and share the results with scientific community and they may continue their academic career in the universities in Turkey or abroad.

Aims and Objectives

Aims

• To provide the students the skills to apply the advanced knowledge of mathematics, science and engineering especially for solving complex problems in their specialization area, to operate and conduct inter-disciplinary studies and to work with others, in professional and social settings and to organize and participate creative and integrative design activities effectively
• To offer advanced level education for engineers for taking part in research and making contributions to research and development in the field of science and technology
• To raise scientists in PhD level that has vision, analytic thinking skill and ethical values

Objectives

To become one of the best departments of Civil Engineering that follows technological developments and pursues advanced level scientific research, to train Civil Engineers who are critical thinkers possessing leadership skills and capable of interdisciplinary collaboration and who are innovative and can produce original solutions.

Qualification Awarded

Upon successful completion of this program, students are awarded with the qualification of DOCTORATE DEGREE in CIVIL ENGINEERING.

Level of Qualification

PhD Degree with thesis in CIVIL ENGINEERING is a four-year (8 semesters) program with 240 ECTS credits. The program meets the requirements both for ECTS credits and level descriptors of the "Third Cycle" degree qualifications of the Overarching Framework of European Qualifications Framework HE (QF-EHEA) and the "8th Level" qualifications of the Turkish Qualifications Framework for HE (TYYÇ, NQF-HETR), as well as the "8th Level" requirements of the qualifications of the European Qualifications Framework for Lifelong Learning (EQF-LLL) in terms of the level descriptors.

Specific Admission Requirements

Admission requirements are determined in line with the regulations set by Higher Education Council of Turkey. Information on application for PhD programs and access requirements are announced on the web page of the university at the beginning of each academic year.  The following requirements are applied for both national and foreign students:

• To have BSc or MSc degree in Civil Engineering Department.
• To have at least 55 score for a foreign language proficiency taken from national exams or equivalent score taken from international exams accepted by Interuniversity Board (OSYM).
• To have ALES (Entrance Exam for Academic Personnel and Postgraduate Education) with minimum score of 55 (or equivalent GRE score) after graduating from master degree with the thesis and to have at least 80 graduation point in 100 scale for the master degree including thesis.
• To have ALES (Entrance Exam for Academic Personnel and Postgraduate Education) with minimum score of 80 (or equivalent GRE score) for the candidates who want to apply to the program after graduating from BSc and to have at least 80 graduation point in 100 scale for Bachelor degree.
• The candidates with a Bachelor’s or Master’s Degree from abroad must have the certificate of equivalence from the Council of Higher Education (YOK).
• ALES and foreign language scores are valid for 5 years; however, after master degree is completed or the master program is ended by itself, a new ALES point for the candidates who want to apply Master program maximum one semester later is not required.
• If the graduate score is submitted with respect to 4-point system, this score must be translated to 100-point system according to the score translation table prepared by the Council of Higher Education (YOK).

For further and detailed information please visit General Admission Requirements and Registration Procedures in the menu items of the Information on the Institution.

For further information on the admission requirement for foreign students, please contact to Niğde Ömer Halisdemir University International Office.

Contact: 

International Office

Niğde Omer Halisdemir Üniversitesi, Kampüs, Bor Yolu, Niğde, TÜRKİYE

Phone: 0 388 225 21 48

Fax: 0 388 225 23 85

E-mail: erasmus@ohu.edu.tr

Web: http://www.ohu.edu.tr/uluslararasi/index.php?ln=en

Specific Arrangements for Recognition of Prior Learning

With an understanding of lifelong learning, Niğde Ömer Halisdemir recognizes the previously taken courses in another institution and exempt them from graduation credit, as long as the courses match with the learning outcomes of the registered PhD Degree (Third Cycle) programme in Civil Engineering at Niğde Ömer Halisdemir University.

Profile of the Programme

PhD program in Civil Engineering has been established with a vision that introducing innovative products can only be achieved by specialization and by combining creativity and engineering experience. The students also develop skills to participate in scientific activities, and share the results with scientific community and they may continue their academic career by enrolling in related universities in Turkey or abroad.

PhD program in Civil Engineering ("Third Cycle" in QF-EHEA and  "8th Level" in TYYÇ )  is an academically-oriented program giving access to research programs and professional practice demanding advanced levels of knowledge, skills and competencies. The program can be classified in regards to ISCED (The International Standard Classification of Education) 2011 and NQF-HETR (The Turkish Qualifications Framework for HE) profiles and fields of education as follows:

• ISCED Field of Education: 52 - Engineering And Engineering Trades
• ISCED 2011 Level: 8,  Orientation (Profile): 74, Subcategory: 747, Academically-oriented "Third Cycle" degree
• NQF-HETR Field of Education: 52 - Engineering And Engineering Trades
• NQF-HETR Profile of Education: Academically-oriented "Third Cycle" degree

Learning and Teaching Methods

The most frequently used instructional methods of the educational programs of Niğde Ömer Halisdemir University are given below.

Programmes commonly apply these methods as appropriate instructional approaches in accordance with their aims and objectives. The instructional methods applied for achieving the goal of meeting the expected learning outcomes of the PhD program in Civil Engineering program at large are indicated in the section of ‘program learning outcomes’, and those methods utilized for individual course units are indicated in the relevant section of “ description of individual course unit’.

Learning and Teaching Methods

• Lecture & In-Class Activities
• Land Surveying
• Group Work
• Laboratory
• Reading
• Assignment (Homework)
• Project Work
• Seminar
• Web Based Learning
• Implementation/Application/Practice
• Thesis Work
• Field Study
• Report Writing

Occupational profiles of graduates with examples

Graduates can work construction industry in the Turkey or any country. Our graduates can work according to personal interests and preferences in many fields such as research and development, design, production, marketing, after sales services and project development.

They can also develop an academic career by enrolling in related the universities in Turkey or abroad.

Qualification Requirements and Regulations

PhD program (third cycle) in Civil Engineering is awarded to students who have scored a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of not less than 3.00 /4.00, defended his/her thesis successfully, and have completed all the courses (240 ECTS) with at least a letter grade of CB or S in the program.

For detailed information: Please see "Nigde University's Rules & Regulations for Graduate Education"

Access to Further Studies

Upon successful completion of PhD degree programme, students can pursue an academic career in related fields.

Examination Regulations, Assessment and Grading

The methods applied for assessment of the achievement of the expected program learning outcomes for the entire Third Cycle program of CIVIL ENGINEERING are shown below and those for the individual course units are given in the relevant section of the course description with their contribution to the final grades.

• Mid-Term Exam
• Final Exam
• Make-up Exam
• Homework Assessment
• Presentation of Report
• Computer Based Presentation
• Presentation of Thesis
• Presentation of Document

Mid-term and general/supplementary examinations are conducted in dates, places and times determined and announced by the University. The students’ general/supplementary semester grade is given by their instructors based on mid-term examination, homework evaluation, short-examinations, general/supplementary examination and, if there is any other assessment results taking into account the students’ compliance with attendance to the course activities.

The contribution of assessment grades of the in-term activities to the final grade is 40% and that of the general/supplementary exam is 60% for all the course units.

Grading

The success of a student for each assessment (in-term and general/supplementary) defined for each course unit is evaluated by the instructor. Evaluations are made over a scale of 100 points and converted to the letter grades at the end of the semester.

A student is considered to be successful in a course if he/she gets one of the following grades: AA, BA, BB, CB or S (Successful). The student's academic standing is calculated in the form of a Grade Point Average (GPA) out of a scale of 4.00 and announced at the end of each semester. The total grade point of a course is obtained by multiplying the grade point by the course ECTS credit. The semester GPA is calculated by dividing the total amount of grade points of courses gained in that semester by the total amount of ECTS credits of courses taken in the semester. The yearlong courses are included in the spring semester GPA. Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) is calculated by dividing the total amount of grade points of all the courses in the curriculum to be taken by the total amount of 240 ECTS credits. For each course taken, the student is given one of the following letter grades and grade points: 

Classification of the qualification

Students with a general academic grade point average of 3.00 and above are considered successful.

Graduation Requirements

In order for a student to graduate from Doctorate Degree (Third Cycle) Programme in CIVIL ENGINEERING, he/she has

• Completed 240 ECTS credits with passing grades for the candidates who has master degree ( with condition of taking at least 21 credits and 7 courses including seminar course, qualification exam, thesis proposal and thesis studies for  4 semesters). On the other hand, completed 300 ECTS credits with passing grades for the candidates who has bachelor science degree (with condition of taking at least 42 credits and 14 courses including seminar course, qualification exam, thesis proposal and thesis studies for  4 semesters).
• Prepared and defended a thesis successfully.
• As from 2015-2016 education term, in order to enter the thesis defending exam for the registered Phd students in our institute, at least 1 journal paper related with the thesis must be published or accepted given as DOI number in Science Citation Index (SCI), SCI-Expanded, Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) or Arts and Humanities Citation Index (AHCl) journal. In addition, the requirement of at least 1 (one) national or international presentation related to the doctoral thesis study, either verbally, in writing or visually, must be met.

Mode of Study

PhD programme in Civil Engineering at Niğde Ömer Halisdemir University is a full time / face to face programme.

Contact (Programme Director or Equivalent)