Geological Engineering: Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) - UBCV is a doctorate in Environmental Engineering programme taught at The University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. The programme is delivered on campus. Teaching is in English. Tuition for international students is CAD 10,082 per year (CAD 5,739 per year for local students).
At a glance
Degree:Doctorate
Field:Environmental Engineering
Delivery: On Campus
Language: English
Local tuition: CAD 5,739 / year
International tuition: CAD 10,082 / year
Last reviewed September 2026 ·
Program details
Overview
This doctorate combines geotechnical engineering, hydrogeology and geology, building the versatile skill set needed for practical problems where engineering meets the earth environment. The degree is dissertation-based, with candidates pursuing original research under a faculty supervisor. Research concentrations include landslides, debris flows, runout analysis and hazard assessment; groundwater hydrology, groundwater contamination and remediation, reactive transport modelling and environmental geochemistry; and rock mechanics and rock engineering, open pit and underground mine design, and tunnelling, alongside environmental geology, economic geology and applied geophysics. Work is based in the Earth Sciences Building, with access to facilities such as the Environmental Interfaces Laboratory and the Centre for Experimental Studies of the Lithosphere.
Requirements
Minimum GPA:76.00 / %
Admission Requirements: Admission is administered by UBC's Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (FGPS) under its published requirements for this doctoral program. The program page states no prerequisite degree or subject beyond FGPS's standard entrance requirement for a doctoral program. FGPS's minimum admission average is in the B+ range (76 per cent), and this program's page states no higher academic minimum, though meeting it does not guarantee admission in a competitive process. Applicants from a university where English was not the language of instruction must meet this program's published English-proficiency minimum: IELTS Academic overall 6.5 with no band below 6; or TOEFL iBT overall 4.5 with no skill below 4 on the 6-point scale in effect for tests sat from 21 January 2026 (overall 100 with no skill below 22 on the prior 120-point scale); or Duolingo English Test overall 125 with no skill below 115. The application also requires three letters of reference and transcripts from all prior post-secondary study.
Application Details
Start Date:September and January
Application Deadline:Domestic and international undergraduate applicants both apply through EducationPlannerBC for Winter Session 2027/28 (September 2027 entry) and Summer 2027: applications open in early October 2026 and the equal-consideration deadline is 15 January 2027, 11:59 p.m. PST, the same date for both groups; a few programs keep reviewing late applications on a space-available basis afterwards. Earlier dates apply only to entrance-award consideration -- 15 November 2026 for the International Scholars Program and 1 December 2026 for Presidential/Centennial/Beyond Tomorrow scholars. Several limited-entry programmes -- Law, Pharmacy, Dentistry, Nursing (advanced entry), Occupational/Physical Therapy, Social Work and Teacher Education -- set their own earlier deadlines from October 2026 through February 2027. These are institution-wide dates; this programme publishes no deadline of its own.
