Skip to content

Digital Civil Engineering

MSc

Duration
Start date
Location

Suitable for applications.

Overview

Civil Engineering is a highly important and ever-evolving profession, involving the design, construction, maintenance, operation and decommissioning of crucial infrastructure facilities, upon which modern life depends.

In recent years, the nature of civil engineering work has changed rapidly, with an increased interest in areas such as smart buildings and motorways, building information modelling and the use of sensors and robotics.

Nowadays, engineers require strong computational skills in addition to technical engineering knowledge, in order to provide suitable engineering solutions to meet the infrastructure needs of society.

This programme will equip you with a solid understanding of the applied computational tools in civil engineering, which can be applied to many real-life engineering problems. After graduating, you will have the skills and knowledge to operate in an increasingly digital world, to design, construct and manage complex infrastructures tackling the 21st Century challenges.

The programme is ideal for those with a civil engineering degree/background, who are interested in pursuing a career in digital civil engineering.

The programme is delivered jointly by the Department of Civil and Structural Engineering and the Department of Computer Science, where an emphasis is placed on providing a supportive environment that will equip students with the knowledge and learning skills to tackle the future challenges in industry.

Entry requirements

A second-class honours degree or equivalent in a relevant engineering degree (civil engineering).

Alternatively, applicants may be accepted from other backgrounds if they have extensive experience of working within civil engineering.

English language requirements

Minimum IELTS 6.0 or equivalent.

If you do not meet the IELTS requirement, and you have a UKVI approved IELTS, you can take a University of Bradford pre-sessional English course. See the Language Centre for more details. For further information on English Language requirements please see the dedicated international entry requirements page.

What you will study

All module information is for 2023 entry, and is subject to change.

Learning and assessment

Teaching and learning methods have been selected to engage students in developing their fundamental knowledge and understanding through formal learning opportunities such as lectures, seminars and tutorials and informal and social learning through team-working in projects and competitions.

Study with us will include formal lectures (including those from the Visiting Professors and guest speakers from industry), but these will always be interactive and two way. We want to develop students’ understanding of the vast array of opportunities open to today’s professional engineer and therefore we look to incorporate aspects of real-world engineering problems and solutions where possible. To this end we make use of case studies, practical demonstrations, and also provide an array of resources and background information from which students can deepen their comprehension.

Opportunities will be provided for students to engage with industrial experts, through activities such as visiting guest lectures and organised site visits. The Department of Civil and Structural Engineering also liaises closely with professional institutions such as the IStructE and ICE, providing many networking and development opportunities for our students.

To support accessibility, clarity and comprehension, all teaching material is provided online in advance of the teaching sessions, allowing students to customise the display of information and their learning experience as a whole. Throughout the programme, lots of opportunities are provided for students to design their own solutions and to express their own ideas, choosing from a variety of tools and methodologies. An emphasis is also placed on the importance of planning and goal setting, allowing students to forge a learning pathway that is suitable for their needs, while respecting the requirements of programme, and the needs of others, when working within a team.

All students are allocated a personal academic tutor, with whom they meet regularly to discuss and receive guidance on their learning and development. The University also operates a wide range of support services covering areas such as disability, counselling, faith advisors and careers.

In the same way that our teaching and learning strategy is designed to prepare students for the world of work, academic research or entrepreneurship, our assessment methods incorporate a wide range of different methods designed to meet the needs of industry and the accrediting bodies, in addition to preparing students for a potential academic research career. 

Fees, finance and scholarships

Tuition fee 2025

  • Home: £9,698
  • International: £25,389

Additional costs

There may be additional costs that you may incur as a student. Though these are not essential to your programme of study you need to be aware of them as a student of the University. A list of the sort of costs you might expect can be found on our fees and finance section.

Financial support

See our fees and financial support section.

Scholarships

Every year we award numerous non-repayable scholarships to UK, EU and international students on the basis of academic excellence, personal circumstances or economic hardship. For full details, visit our scholarships section.

Career prospects

This MSc is particularly suitable for civil engineers who would like to specialise in the more digital aspects of this subject.

They may work in the design/construction/maintenance of large-scale structural/infrastructure projects, which demand advanced data handling/programming/optimisation skills.

Career support

The University is committed to helping students develop and enhance employability and this is an integral part of many programmes. Specialist support is available throughout the course from Career and Employability Services including help to find part-time work while studying, placements, vacation work and graduate vacancies. Students are encouraged to access this support at an early stage and to use the extensive resources on the Careers website.

Discussing options with specialist advisers helps to clarify plans through exploring options and refining skills of job-hunting. In most of our programmes there is direct input by Career Development Advisers into the curriculum or through specially arranged workshops.

Study support

You’ll be joining a relatively small cohort of students in which everyone is valued and looked after by members of staff, who maintain an open door policy. You will receive tailored advice and support to ensure you get the most from your studies.

We have a very active student-led Civil Engineering Society (CivSoc) which provides a non-academic platform for interaction between students and academics, industrialists and professional institutions. CivSoc organises a range of talks, site visits and tournaments every year.

We have a commitment to strong pastoral care for all of our students, which includes a Personal Tutor for all students, regular contact hours for tutor groups and our supportive student service teams who are always ready to help with any questions and provide the advice that you need.

In addition to standard study support through taught sessions, our Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) allows students to access resources, participate in group work and submit work from anywhere in the world 24/7.

University central services are rich with support teams to assist students with every aspect of their journey through our degree programmes. From our Career and Employability Service, through our strong Students' Union, to our professional and efficient Student Finance team, there are always friendly faces ready to support you and provide you with the answers that you need.

Research

The majority of the modules on this programme are taught by research-active staff, working at the forefront of their discipline.

As part of the programme, all students will undertake an individual research-based project worth 60 credits (out of a total of 180 credits for the programme).

This is the current course information. Modules and course details may change, subject to the University's programme approval, monitoring and review procedures. The University reserves the right to alter or withdraw courses, services and facilities as described on our website without notice and to amend Ordinances, Regulations, fees and charges at any time. Students should enquire as to the up-to-date position when applying for their course of study.