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Doctoral students conduct research in one of the following areas: intelligent transportation systems , high-speed rail development , airport and airline systems , and land use – transport integration . The final outcome of the doctoral research is the writing and defense of a dissertation. Throughout the program, students are expected to meet with their doctoral committees and demonstrate their research progress. Exact requirements vary slightly between each of the three universities and are described below.
Technical University of Lisbon (IST)
At the end of the first year of the PhD program, students should submit a 7-page research work plan consisting of 1 page of motivation/methodology, 3 pages of state-of-the-art literature review, and 3 pages of proposed work/organization of the work. This work plan is evaluated by a Committee for Thesis Accompaniment consisting of 2 referees nominated by the PhD program director.
After 18-24 months of the start of the PhD, students should submit a more extended description of their research work and present it orally to a midterm committee consisting of the research supervisor and two other faculty members chosen by the research supervisor and approved by the PhD program director.
The thesis is evaluated by a jury composed of 5-7 faculty members, 2 of whom are not affiliated with the Technical University of Lisbon, proposed by the research supervisor and approved by the coordinator of the teaching unit and the head of the Civil Engineering department. If the thesis is accepted for discussion, students defend their thesis through an oral examination in the presence of the jury. If, however, the thesis needs major changes, a recommendation for improvement is issued and students have 120 working days to address the comments and submit a new version.
In addition to the requirements described above, students should submit an annual report describing their research progress.
University of Porto (FEUP)
A committee of 5 professors (involving the program director and 4 others from the University of Porto but one of whom is from outside the faculty of Engineering) oversees the doctoral students’ research. After 1 year into the program, students should write a research proposal and meet with their committee. Afterwards, students should meet with at least 3 members of this committee once a year.
After submitting their thesis and if it is deemed acceptable for discussion, students defend the thesis through an oral examination involving 3 professors from the University of Porto and 2 external examiners (from outside the University of Porto).
University of Coimbra (FCTUC)
At the end of the first year of the PhD program, students should submit a work plan of their proposed research (including state-of-the-art literature review) through the “Thesis Project” course and defend it in the presence of a jury composed of the research supervisor, the director of the PhD program, and at least 2 members of the final jury that evaluates the thesis. The work plan is evaluated by the research supervisor and PhD program director at the end of every year thereafter.
After submitting their thesis, students meet with the PhD program director. If the thesis is accepted for discussion, students defend their thesis through an oral examination in the presence of a jury composed of faculty members from the University of Coimbra and other universities (more faculty members from outside Coimbra). Jury members are selected by the research supervisor and PhD program director based on the students’ research topic and are also approved by the department and school.
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