No. 36. Proceedings of the 9th fib International PhD Symposium in Civil Engineering - 22-25 July 2012 - Karlsruhe, Germany PDF format

PhD studies represent the highest level of university education worldwide. The results of PhD studies are important not only for the PhD candidates but also for the universities themselves. Successful PhD researchers often become future professors at universities or recognised engineers in industry.

Every university has its own programme for PhD studies, which can differ significantly across institutions. However, their common purpose is always to support high-level research.

The series of fib International PhD Symposia in Civil Engineering provides a special forum, in addition to PhD programmes, for presenting ongoing research results and discussing them, while receiving advice on how to continue and complete the work.

In this forum, only young colleagues (PhD candidates) are allowed to give presentations. They must have already started their research but must not have submitted their thesis at the time of abstract submission. Supervisors (professors and practising engineers) are very welcome as session chairs or contributors to the discussions.

One of the unique features of these PhD Symposia is that a long mandatory discussion time (almost as long as the presentation itself) is included in the programme. In this way, young researchers are exposed to comments and questions from an international academic community.

At the fib International PhD Symposia, many universities and institutes from different parts of the world are represented. It is always encouraging to see how many researchers are active in various fields and which topics are most relevant. Personal contacts made during the Symposia can also help develop future collaborations.

In this way, we can fulfil the original objectives of the fib International PhD Symposia:
(1) to provide a forum for PhD students in civil engineering to present the progress of their work;
(2) to discuss the results of ongoing PhD studies in order to support future work;
(3) to enable PhD students to establish international contacts; and
(4) to compare PhD studies across different countries.

I personally have always enjoyed the unique atmosphere of previous PhD Symposia, full of activity and enthusiasm from both PhD candidates and professors. Please enjoy it at KIT in Karlsruhe, Germany in 2012.

Finally, I take this opportunity to wish all PhD candidates successful discussions in Karlsruhe and a successful PhD defence at your home universities when your research is completed.

György L. Balázs
President of the International Federation for Structural Concrete (fib)