Degree Programme Structure (MSc)
Programme Structure
Master of Science:
- Compulsory Study Package
- Specialised Study Package
- Elective Courses (30 ECTS)
- Thesis (30 ECTS)
The first year consists of two Compulsory Study Packages and two Specialised Study Packages.
The Compulsory Study Package is mandatory for all students. You have to choose minimum two of the Specialised Study Package.
As the 30 ECTS of elective courses you can choose between Specialsed Study Packages and individual courses offered by the education (minor variations from year to year).
Compulsory Study Package
COMPULSORY COURSES - AUTUMN
- Numerical Analysis in Civil Engineering 5 ECTS
- Risk and Reliability in Engineering 5 ECTS
- Experimental Mechanics Theory (For students specializing in structural engineering, tectonic design, geotechnical engineerin) 5 ECTS
- Integrated Energy Design (For students specializing in integrated energy design) 5 ECTS
- Advanced Planning and Scheduling of Construction Projects (For students specializing in construction management) 5 ECTS*
* Autumn 2020: Replaced by mandatory courses for Architectural Engineering og for Civilengineering
COMPULSORY COURSES - SPRING
- Applied Innovation in Engineering 5 ECTS
- Research Methods in Civil and Architectural Engineering 5 ECTS
- Structural Concepts (For students specializing in structural engineering, tectonic design, construction management, geotechnical engineering) 5 ECTS
- Heat transfer and Mass Transport (For students specializing in integrated energy design) 5 ECTS
Specialised Study Package
Choose minimum two of the specialised study packages
SPECIALISED STUDY PACKAGES (15 ECTS EACH) - AUTUMN
Optimization of Construction Systems
Focus is on optimizing the design and execution process of construction projects, including simulation and pre-production perspectives such as the clients brief and design. Innovation, efficiency, optimization, collaboration and change management are keywords in this specialization, allowing students to act as Client Consultants and Project Managers at Contractors, Consultants, and Clients.
Prerequisites: BSc. Degree with introductory knowledge of construction processes.
- Lean Construction - 5 ECTS
- Clients, Users and Innovation - 5 ECTS
- Advanced Planning and Scheduling of Projects - 5 ECTS
Indoor Environmental Engineering (A)
The aim of this course package is to provide students with advanced knowledge, skills, and competences to design comfortable, healthy and sustainable buildings with excellent thermal, air quality, and lighting conditions.
Prerequisites: BSc in engineering, or equivalent, with a substantial degree of specialization related to building physics, human comfort and building services.
- Energy-efficient Building Envelope Design - 5 ECTS
- Natural Ventilation - 5 ECTS
- Daylighting - 5 ECTS
Concrete structures and Geotechnics
Focus of the package is to achieve knowledge of reinforced concrete and advanced geo-material behavior, in addition to the application and assessment of design methods for reinforced concrete structures and constitutive models of soil. Topics are dealt with both from an theoretical and experimental point of view.
Prerequisites: The students are required to have a bachelor degree in civil/structural engineering.
- Limit Analysis of Concrete Structures - 5 ECTS
- Advanced Soil Mechanics - 10 ECTS
Structural Dynamics
The aim of this package is to provide students with the necessary tools to make accurate calculations and informed decisions regarding the dynamic response of structures to all forms of external loading. Furthermore, students should understand the concepts of structural control and monitoring. Specific issues relating to large structures, such as cable-supported bridges and wind turbines, are elaborated upon.
Prerequisites: The students are required to have a bachelor degree in civil engineering with a specialization in structural engineering.
- Bridge Design - 5 ECTS
- Structural Dynamics - 5 ECTS
- Dynamics of Wind Turbines and Wave Hydro Dynamics - 5 ECTS
Tectonic Design
Ambitious building designs require extensive multi-disciplinary engineering skills for generating novel building designs.
Contemporary tectonic design combines material- and assembly-driven processes with computational tools and skillsets from multiple disciplines. Among other things, the courses included in this specialization exemplify how tectonic thinking, in response to current and foreseeable societal challenges, can result in novel and more holistic approaches to building construction.
Prerequisites: A BSc degree in Civil and Structural or Architectural Engineering
- Computational Design - 5 ECTS
- Form-finding in Building Design - 5 ECTS
- Tectonics in Engineering and Archuctural design - 5 ECTS
SPECIALISED STUDY PACKAGES (15 ECTS EACH) - SPRING
Indoor Environmental Engineering
The aim of this course package is to provide students with advanced knowledge, skills, and competences to design comfortable, healthy and sustainable buildings with excellent thermal, air quality, and lighting conditions.
Prerequisites: BSc in engineering, or equivalent, with a substantial degree of specialization related to building physics, human comfort and building services.
- Simulation of Building Energy Systems - 5 ECTS
- Air Physics and Building Ventilation - 5 ECTS
- Electric Lighting - 5 ECTS
IT in Construction
This package focuses on interdisciplinary digital processes such as Building Information Modeling (BIM), Integrated Design and Project Delivery (IDP/IPD), construction automation and information technologies, incl. remote sensing and data visualization in construction and the built environment.
Prerequisites: BSc in Civil and Architectural Engineering.
- Integrated Engineering Project - 5 ECTS
- Digital Construction - 5 ECTS
- Advanced Construction Technologies - 5 ECTS
Structural Mechanics and Steel Design
Modern computers allow the analysis of structures with complex geometries and material behavior. However, a correct and optimal use of commercial programs or coding new software based on numerical methods such as the finite-element method (FEM) requires competent users and developers with a thorough understanding of the theory and its limitations. This package aims at providing the knowledge, skills and competencies necessary to choose sound modelling strategies, create models, verify their accuracy and test their computational efficiency with focus on the FEM applied to static analyses of structures. Further, the package provides the knowledge necessary to analyse and design steel structures with particular focus on the inherent advantages and limitations of steel as a structural material.
Prerequisites: The students are required to have a bachelor degree in civil engineering with a specialization in structural engineering.
- Design of Analysis og Steel Structures - 5 ECTS
- Finite Element Analysis of Structures - 10 ECTS
Elective Courses
As the 30 ECTS of elective courses you can choose
1. Specialised Study Packages
All the courses in a package or part of the courses.
2. Individual courses offered by the education (minor variations from year to year):
Elective Courses - Autumn 2020
- Timber Structures - 5 ECTS
- International Construction Law - 10 ECTS (14 day workshop in August, Summer course)
- Prestressed Conctete Structures - 5 ECTS (dormant)
Elective Courses - Spring 2021
- International Construction law – 10 ECTS (14 day workshop in August, Summer course)
- Random Vibration – 5 ECTS (dormant)
- R&D project in Engineering 5, 10, 15, or 20 ECTS
- Timber Structures - 5 ECTS
- CFD in Architechtural Engineering - 5 ECTS
3. Courses from AU Course catalogue
You can choose courses from other departments at Aarhus University (up to 10 ECTS in total)
You may maximum attend 10 ECTS of bachelor level-courses during your master education. A bachelor level-course is typically to be used for entirely new topics, i.e. topics outside your bachelor education, to ensure a sufficient level for attending master level-courses subsequently.
R&D Project
The R&D project is an independent, research-based work. The project can either be carried out in a research group at the university or in collaboration with an industrial partner. A project can be of 5, 10, 15 or 20 ECTS. In total, maximum 20 ECTS.
Course Overview
You can find the courses on your degree programme in the Study Structure:
Academic Regulations
In the academic regulations, you can find more information about the structure of the degree programme, and the requirements, – including the types of exams and the exam requirements.
