To be recommended for candidacy for the Ph.D. degree in civil engineering, the student must, in addition to meeting the general Institute requirements, do the following:

• Obtain the agreement of a professorial faculty member to serve as his or her academic and research adviser before the end of the third term of graduate residence at Caltech. In consultation with the adviser, the student must form a Ph.D. thesis advisory committee before the end of the fourth term. This committee shall consist of at least three members of the Caltech professorial faculty, with at least two members from the faculty in mechanical and civil engineering.

• Pass both subject and research components of the oral candidacy examination before the end of the eighth term of graduate academic residence at Caltech. If the student has chosen a subject minor, an examination on the subject of that program may be included at the request of the discipline offering the subject minor.

• Complete a minimum of 195 units of courses numbered 101 or above, that meet the required PhD program listed below. All units must be taken for grades and passed with a grade of at least a C, except for courses offered only on a pass/fail basis. The course work towards the Ph.D. degree in civil engineering is typically completed within the first three years of residency at Caltech.