The PhD Program in Civil Engineering offers five fields of specialization, namely: Construction Technology and Management; Geotechnical Engineering; Structural Engineering; Transportation Planning and Engineering; and Hydraulics and Water Resources Engineering. Under these, the program offers two integrative courses: Sustainable Infrastructures for the Natural and Built Environment and Natural Disaster Risk Mitigation and Management. PhD students are each assigned an adviser.

Students with a non-thesis Master of Engineering degree will be required an independent and supervised research work (Directed Research), to be conducted for two terms or six months, equivalent to 6 units of enrolment. This is to assess the capability of the student to conduct research prior to acceptance to the PhD program.

Graduates of Master of Science in Civil Engineering graduate (thesis program) can enroll directly to the PhD Program upon submission of requirements. The curriculum of the PhD program is composed of 30 units of coursework and dissertation, summarized as follows:

Specialization Courses 12 units
Philosophy Course 3 units
Seminar 3 units
Dissertation 12 units
Orientation for Non-DLSU graduates (1 unit)
Total 30 units