The Department of Civil Engineering was established in 2010, and the master's program began its educational activities in 2013. The undergraduate program covers general civil engineering topics. Our department has an administrative floor and a laboratory. This laboratory contains experimental materials for building materials, soil mechanics, structural mechanics, hydraulics, and topography, and its facilities are constantly being improved. The duration of the thesis-based master's program is four semesters. It is mandatory to complete at least 7 courses plus a seminar course totaling 21 credits within four semesters. Failure to complete these courses will result in termination of enrollment. The seminar course and thesis work are non-credit bearing and are evaluated as successful or unsuccessful. The thesis work can also be completed within four semesters. Students who complete their courses but not their thesis work within four semesters are given an additional year to complete their thesis. The maximum duration of the thesis-based master's program is six semesters. Students must register for the thesis period every semester, starting no later than the semester following the assignment of their advisor. A maximum of two of the courses a student takes may be selected from undergraduate courses, provided that these courses were not taken during undergraduate studies. Additionally, with the recommendation of the institute's department head and the approval of the institute's administrative board, a maximum of two courses may be selected from courses offered at other higher education institutions. Students who fail their thesis work or do not attend the thesis defense within the maximum time limits will be dismissed. Before the defense of the master's thesis, and in the case of theses requiring corrections, the student completes the thesis and submits it to their advisor. The advisor submits the thesis to the institute along with their opinion on its defensibility. The institute obtains a plagiarism detection software report for the thesis and sends it to the advisor and jury members. If the report reveals actual plagiarism, the thesis is sent to the institute's administrative board for a decision, along with the reasoning. The master's thesis jury is appointed with the recommendation of the thesis advisor and the relevant institute department head, and the approval of the institute's administrative board. The jury consists of three to five faculty members, one of whom is the student's thesis advisor, and at least one of whom is from outside the student's higher education institution. If the jury consists of three members, the thesis advisor cannot be a jury member. The student who completes their thesis submits the required number of copies to their thesis advisor. The advisor sends the copies of the thesis to the institute through the department head, along with their written opinion regarding the thesis's compliance with writing rules. The jury members convene within one month of receiving the thesis and conduct the thesis examination. The thesis examination consists of a presentation of the thesis work followed by a question-and-answer session. The thesis examination is conducted in an open setting with the participation of faculty members, graduate students, and experts in the field. After the thesis examination, the jury makes a decision on the thesis by simple majority vote: acceptance, rejection, or revision. This decision is reported to the relevant institute by the head of the department within three days following the thesis examination. Students whose theses are rejected due to unsuccessful thesis defense examinations are dismissed. Students whose theses are deemed unsuccessful during the thesis defense examination must re-defend the revised thesis before the same jury within three months. If the thesis is again rejected after this re-defense, the student is dismissed. If a student whose thesis is rejected requests it, they may be awarded a non-thesis master's degree provided they have fulfilled the course credit requirements, project writing, and similar conditions of the non-thesis master's program. A master's degree with a thesis may be awarded to a student who submits their thesis to the institute within one month of the thesis examination date and whose thesis is found to be satisfactory in terms of format. The institute's administrative board may extend the submission period by a maximum of one month upon request. Students who do not fulfill these conditions will not receive their diploma, will not be able to benefit from student rights, and will be dismissed upon the expiration of the maximum period.
Last updated: 26 October 2026