MSc in Civil and Architectural Engineering

Programme structure

At the start of the study, you choose between five study lines. The choice of study line is a choice of a course package that influences the first three semesters. Currently, the study lines are

  • Infrastructures and Geotechnical Engineering
  • Structural Engineering
  • Innovative Structural Design
  • Building Science and Technology
  • Construction Management and Engineering

Apart from the courses that belong to the study lines, a number of elective courses can be chosen. At the third semester a 15 ECTS project course taken within a topic relating to the study line. Also, at the third semester, many students choose to study abroad at another university. The final semester is the master thesis semester, where you choose the topic. The master thesis work may be in cooperation with an external company.

The programme is taught by faculty members who are active researchers, so students benefit from a research-intensive environment and have the opportunity to work with researchers, as well as the chance to complete a project in collaboration with a private company.

Study lines and elective courses

Infrastructures and Geotechnical Engineering - Summer intake


Elective courses - Semester 1 (fall)

  • Structures I - Elements and Joints
  • Computational Fluid Dynamics in Civil and Architectural Engineering
  • Fracture Mechanics and Fatigue of Structures
  • Advanced Structural Dynamics
  • Bridge Design
  • Wave Loading on Offshore Structures
  • Risk, Reliability and Resilience of the Built Environment
  • Fundamentals of Computational Fluid Dynamics (Not conducted in 2024)

Elective courses - Semester 2 (spring)

  • Structures II - Systems
  • Finite Element Analysis of Spatial Lightweight Structures
  • Structural Dynamics
  • Digital Crafting - Robotic Manufacturing and Construction  
  • Experimental Mechanics and Dynamics
  • Advanced Design of Concrete Structures
  • Systems Engineering (general)
  • Applied Innovation (general)
  • Risk, Reliability and Resilience of the Built Environment
  • Engineering Digital Twins, (general, 10 ECTS).

Elective courses - Semester 3 (fall)

  • Structures I - Elements and Joints
  • Advanced Concrete Technology
  • Wave Propagation in Solids and Structures
  • Bridge Design
  • Modelling and Testing of Wind Turbines
  • Wave Loading on Offshore Structures
  • Risk, Reliability and Resilience of the Built Environment
  • Fundamentals of Computational Fluid Dynamics (Not conducted in 2024)

Infrastructures and Geotechnical Engineering - Winter intake


Elective courses - Semester 1 (spring)

  • Structural Dynamics
  • Digital Crafting - Robotic Manufacturing and Construction  
  • Integrated Facade Engineering I
  • Systems Engineering (general)
  • Applied Innovation (general)
  • Advanced Design of Concrete Structures
  • Engineering Digital Twins, (general, 10 ECTS)

Elective courses - Semester 2 (fall)

  • Structures I - Elements and Joints
  • Advanced Structural Dynamics
  • Advanced Concrete Technology
  • Computational Fluid Dynamics in Civil and Architectural Engineering
  • Hybrid Structures
  • Bridge Design
  • Wave Loading on Offshore Structures
  • Fundamentals of Computational Fluid Dynamics (Not conducted in 2024)

Elective courses - Semester 3 (spring)

  • Structures II - Systems
  • Experimental Mechanics and Dynamics
  • Finite Element Analysis of Spatial Lightweight Structures
  • Engineering Digital Twins, (general, 10 ECTS). Note that this course is not pre-approved, see this page.

Structural Engineering - Summer intake


Elective courses - Semester 1 (fall)

  • Computational Design and Constructability
  • Computational Fluid Dynamics in Civil and Architectural Engineering
  • Fracture Mechanics and Fatigue of Structures
  • Architectural Acoustics
  • Hybrid Structures
  • Bridge Design
  • Wave Loading on Offshore Structures
  • Risk, Reliability and Resilience of the Built Environment
  • Fundamentals of Computational Fluid Dynamics (Not conducted in 2024)

Elective courses - Semester 2 (spring)

  • Form Finding in Building Design
  • Integrated Facade Engineering I
  • Soil Mechanics
  • Advanced Material Technology
  • Advanced Design of Concrete Structures
  • Advanced Material and Structural Mechanics
  • Systems Engineering (general)
  • Applied Innovation (general)
  • Engineering Digital Twins, (general, 10 ECTS).

Elective courses - Semester 3 (fall)

  • Generative Building Design
  • Integrated Facade Engineering II
  • Advanced Concrete Technology
  • Wave Propagation in Solids and Structures
  • Bridge Design
  • Modelling and Testing of Wind Turbines
  • Wave Loading on Offshore Structures
  • Risk, Reliability and Resilience of the Built Environment
  • Fundamentals of Computational Fluid Dynamics (Not conducted in 2024)

Structural Engineering - Winter intake


Elective courses - Semester 1 (spring)

  • Structural Dynamics (BSc)
  • Integrated Facade Engineering I
  • Soil Mechanics
  • Digital Crafting - Robotic Manufacturing and Construction  
  • Systems Engineering (general)
  • Applied Innovation (general)
  • Engineering Digital Twins, (general, 10 ECTS).

Elective courses - Semester 2 (fall)

  • Computational Design and Constructability
  • Fracture Mechanics and Fatigue of Structures
  • Advanced Concrete Technology
  • Computational Fluid Dynamics in Civil and Architectural Engineering
  • Hybrid Structures
  • Architectural Acoustics
  • Bridge Design
  • Wave Loading on Offshore Structures
  • Risk, Reliability and Resilience of the Built Environment
  • Fundamentals of Computational Fluid Dynamics (Not conducted in 2024)

Elective courses - Semester 3 (spring)

  • Form Finding in Building Design
  • Structures II - Systems
  • Advanced Material and Structural Mechanics
  • Integrated Facade Engineering I
  • Engineering Digital Twins, (general, 10 ECTS).

Innovative Structural Design - Summer intake


Elective courses - Semester 1 (fall)

  • Computational Fluid Dynamics in Civil and Architectural Engineering
  • Generative Building Design
  • Hybrid Structures
  • Fracture Mechanics and Fatigue of Structures
  • Architectural Acoustics
  • Risk, Reliability and Resilience of the Built Environment
  • Fundamentals of Computational Fluid Dynamics (Not conducted in 2024)

Elective courses - Semester 2 (spring)

  • Adaptable and Kinetic Structures
  • Digital Crafting - Robotic Manufacturing and Construction  
  • Integrated Facade Engineering I
  • Experimental Mechanics and Dynamics
  • Engineering Digital Twins, (general, 10 ECTS).

Elective courses - Semester 3 (fall)

  • Computational Fluid Dynamics in Civil and Architectural Engineering
  • Generative Building Design
  • Hybrid Structures
  • Integrated Facade Engineering II
  • Fracture Mechanics and Fatigue of Structures
  • Architectural Acoustics
  • Risk, Reliability and Resilience of the Built Environment
  • Fundamentals of Computational Fluid Dynamics (Not conducted in 2024)

Innovative Structural Design - Winter intake


Elective courses - Semester 1 (spring)

  • Adaptable and Kinetic Structures
  • Digital Crafting - Robotic Manufacturing and Construction  
  • Integrated Facade Engineering I
  • Experimental Mechanics and Dynamics
  • Engineering Digital Twins, (general, 10 ECTS).

Elective courses - Semester 2 (fall)

  • Generative Building Design
  • Hybrid Structures
  • Computational Fluid Dynamics in Civil and Architectural Engineering
  • Integrated Facade Engineering II
  • Fracture Mechanics and Fatigue of Structures
  • Architectural Acoustics
  • Risk, Reliability and Resilience of the Built Environment
  • Fundamentals of Computational Fluid Dynamics (Not conducted in 2024)

Elective courses - Semester 3 (spring)

  • Adaptable and Kinetic Structures
  • Digital Crafting - Robotic Manufacturing and Construction  
  • Integrated Facade Engineering I
  • Experimental Mechanics and Dynamics
  • Engineering Digital Twins, (general, 10 ECTS).

Building Science and Technology - Summer intake


Elective courses - Semester 3 (fall)

  • Computational Fluid Dynamics in Civil and Architectural Engineering
  • Grid-interactive Buildings
  • Architectural Acoustics
  • Risk, Reliability and Resilience of the Built Environment
  • Fundamentals of Computational Fluid Dynamics (Not conducted in 2024)

Building Science and Technology - Winter intake


Elective courses - Semester 3 (spring)

  • Systems Engineering (general)
  • Applied Innovation (general)
  • Form Finding in Building Design
  • Integrated Facade Engineering I

Construction Management and Engineering - Summer intake


Elective courses - Semester 2 (spring)

  • Systems Engineering (general)
  • Applied Innovation (general)
  • Digital Crafting - Robotic Manufacturing and Construction
  • Engineering Digital Twins, (general, 10 ECTS).

Elective courses - Semester 3 (fall)

  • International Construction Law (summer course).
  • Risk, Reliability and Resilience of the Built Environment

Construction Management and Engineering - Winter intake


Elective courses - Semester 1 (spring)

  • International Construction Law (summer course).
  • Systems Engineering (general)
  • Applied Innovation (general)
  • Digital Crafting - Robotic Manufacturing and Construction  
  • Engineering Digital Twins, (general, 10 ECTS).

Elective courses - Semester 3 (spring)

  • International Construction Law (summer course).
  • Systems Engineering (general)
  • Applied Innovation (general)
  • Digital Crafting - Robotic Manufacturing and Construction  
  • Engineering Digital Twins, (general, 10 ECTS).

You may attend maximum 15 ECTS of bachelor level-courses during your master education as part of the elective courses. A bachelor level-course is typically to be used for entirely new topics, i.e. outside primary focus of your bachelor education, to ensure you fulfill the required academic prerequisites.

R&D Project

The R&D project is an open, independent, research-based work performed under research supervision. The project can be a “sister-project” to a master thesis, or an opportunity to explore an entirely different scientific area. The project can either be carried out in a research group at the university, or in collaboration with or carried out in a company. The main supervisor of the R&D project you make an agreement with yourself directly among the researchers at Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering. A project can be of 10 or 15 ECTS, but a student can take maximum 15 ECTS in total.

The R&D project topic can be closely related to your master thesis topic, but the two projects must have different problem statements. In the master thesis, you can refer to your R&D work as you would cite any other research paper, yet be aware that you may not plagiarize your own R&D project text in the master thesis.

Thesis

The thesis is prescribed to 30 ECTS. Find guidelines here:

Read more about the Master Thesis

and the Course description

Master´s contract

An individual agreement on the courses in your education is prepared and approved in your study contract.

Once you submit your proposal, your Head of Degree Programme may advice you and will eventually approve your courses:

Changes to an approved study programme can only be made prior to course registration, and the changed contract must once again be approved by your Head of Degree Programme.

Remember awareness of course’s academic prerequisites before listing courses in your contract, which is found in the individual course descriptions: Read more in the AU Course catalouge

Course registration and time tables

Course registration

Once your Master's contract is approved by the Head of degree programme, you must register for the upcomming semester courses at mystudies.au.dk. Course registration periods: (1) Autumn semester courses: 1 – 5 May, (2) Spring semester courses: 1 – 5 November, and (3) master programme study start.


Time tables

Find teaching schedules here: Timeplanner (timetable.au.dk)

Find teaching schedules for

  • Specific courses
  • Your personal timetable, after course registration

Teaching schedules are available two weeks before semester start, for some courses earlier.


Student counselling

For questions on course registration, time tables or filling in the master’s contract template, contact your student counsellor:

Contact Student Counselling (au.dk)

If you may need an exemption from regulations, or have personal matters impacting your studies, you can also contact your student counsellor or a student welfare counsellor.

Academic regulations

In the academic regulations, you can find more information about the structure of the degree programme, and the requirements for you as a student – including overall educational learning goals and study progression rules.

CONTACT

Student Councelling

First point of contact. For questions to educational regulations, study plans, course elections, doubts, exemptions and personal matters affecting studies.

Head of Degree Programme

Responsible for scientific content of education, including approval of course in study programme.

Degree Programme Coordinators

Responsible for administrative matters including course and exam registration.