Civil Engineering is the application of scientific knowledge to produce all the large scale infrastructure of our world. Its main activities are in the construction, transport, water supply and environmental control sectors, but oil exploration, energy and disaster prevention are all also key activities. Civil engineering is essential to human health and welfare, and provides many of the essential facilities we rely on to live a civilised life. Civil Engineers have been trained at Edinburgh University since about 1780, and there has been a Professor in Civil Engineering since 1886. However, the teaching is always innovative, and the degree programmes have been extensively developed over the last decade, making them as valuable as possible to the careers of its students. The flexible array of degrees we offer are designed to give you the scientific background and practical design experience necessary to contribute as professional engineers to large scale projects that will improve the quality of life and sustainability of civil society. Through a combination of lecture modules, laboratory work, design exercises, group projects, individual projects, and industrial interaction, we equip you with the knowledge and skills necessary to excel as a professional engineer. The teaching staff for Edinburgh's Civil and Environmental Engineering degrees are an energetic and enthusiastic group, whose research is strongly integrated into the teaching programme to produce an education of the highest standard that continuously evolves as knowledge advances. All students undertake an innovative research project near the end of their degree, giving each student the satisfaction of advancing scientific knowledge and an understanding of how to be innovative during their career. The staff enjoy a long-standing reputation for research and innovation in all the main areas of the profession: structures, geotechnical engineering, environmental engineering and construction management. Key current research foci are in specialised areas such as non-destructive testing, fire safety engineering, shell structures and industrial storage structures.

Engineering degrees are broad and numerate, therefore, engineering graduates have a unusually extensive range of excellent career options available to them. Studying Engineering at the University of Edinburgh prepares you for a career as a professional engineer in the UK or abroad and all courses meet the requirements of the UK professional engineering bodies. Typically many of our graduates move on to work in internationally leading engineering companies in technical, consultancy and managerial roles, including company directorships. Alternatively, the skills and experience you gain through your degree will also equip you for a career outside engineering and many of our graduates have gone on to work in other areas, including the civil service, education, the armed forces and the financial sector. Engineers enjoy some of the highest starting salaries of any graduates.