GENERAL INFORMATION

• Education level: Master's degree
• Type of curriculum: Research - In-depth study
• Academic Program: Master’s Degree in Engineering – Geotechnical Engineering
• Title granted: MSc. of Engineering – Geotechnical Engineering
• SNIES code: 100
• Creation year: 1987
• Opening year: 1987
• Campus: Bogotá
• Faculty: Engineering
• Estimated duration: 4 semesters
• Total credits: 52
• Six-monthly fees (detailed down by points):
  

  Academic fee

  Administrative fee

  Welfare fee

  Policy fee

  155

  30

  10

  26,000 COP

• Point equivalence: One day of the current statutory minimum monthly wage (CSMMW) 2020 - (Circular 1 of 2020 - General Secretariat) = $29,260 COP
• Current approximate cost of the semester: $5,731,700 COP

PROFILES

Candidate Profile

Candidates for the master’s degree can be civil engineers, geologists or earth science professionals with an interest in obtaining sound geotechnical knowledge and actively participating in research and technological innovation projects. However, other professionals who wish to research and contribute in the geotechnical field, such as physicists, chemists or mechanical and electronic engineers, can also aspire to this master’s degree, since geotechnics currently involve multiple disciplines. In the Master of Research it is recommended that the applicant be interested in dedicating himself to the methodical development of a research topic aimed at advancing knowledge. The master’s degree is more suitable for applicants who wish to improve their geotechnical knowledge in order to apply it to the development and improvement of specific techniques, design processes or solution of geotechnical problems.

Graduate Profile

The graduate of the research program will be a professional with solid knowledge in geotechnics, who has the necessary tools for the development of research processes and technological innovation in this area. Graduates of the in-depth program will have the skills to actively participate in consultancy, construction and innovation projects in different fields that require solid knowledge of geotechnics.

MISSION AND VISION

Mission

The Master’s degree in Engineering - Geotechnical Engineering seeks to train professionals with solid and deep knowledge in the field of geotechnical engineering, with the highest level of research capacity and with the possibility of applying their knowledge to the development of the country in aspects such as new methodologies, process innovation, training of new professionals, contributions in different fields of consultancy, construction, organization of geotechnical projects, etc.

Vision

The Master’s degree in Engineering - Geotechnical Engineering has as vision ten years, maintain its high academic and research level, the continuous training of professionals committed to the development of the country and be one of the academic programs in geotechnics better structured in the country and one of the best in the Latin American regional.

OBJECTIVES

The general objectives of the program are:

• To deepen the knowledge of Geotechnics and the methodology of scientific work with a view to solving problems applied to the country’s conditions.
• Contribute to the training of researchers and university teachers in the field of Geotechnics.

The specific training objectives of the Research curriculum are:

To train professionals with solid knowledge of geotechnics and with research tools that allow them to actively participate in research projects and in consulting and construction projects in different phases where geotechnical components are involved. In addition, these professionals should strengthen their capacity to innovate in order to solve the country’s problems, through the development of their own or appropriately adapted methodologies under conditions of economic, social and environmental efficiency.

The specific training objectives of the Deepening curriculum are:

To train professionals with large and sufficient knowledge of geotechnics, that allow them to apply them efficiently in the solution of engineering problems and in the practical exercise of the profession in different fields such as construction consulting, special developments, etcetera. These professionals will have the critical and innovative capacity to identify, characterize, evaluate and propose solutions to the country’s problems through the development of their own methodologies or appropriately adapted under conditions of economic, social and environmental efficiency.

CURRICULUM STRUCTURE

SUBJECTS AND COURSES

Eligible Subjects

The offer of subjects in each academic period will be conditioned to the programming carried out by the Advisory Committees of the respective program.

SUBJECTS

• Soil behaviour*
• Investigation of the subsoil*
• Foundations Engineering
• Numerical methods in geotechnics
• Analysis methods in geotechnics*
• Basic mechanics of rocks
• Geology for engineers
• Photo-identification
• Structures of containment
• Slope stability
• Soil and rock dynamics
• Road materials*
• Advanced pavements
• Flow in porous media

* Core Component Subjects in the Master’s Degree

TEACHING STAFF

RESEARCH

Research Lines

Three lines of research are included in the program:

• Constituent relationships of soils, rocks and related materials.
• Geotechnical modeling and analysis.
• Analysis of reliability and risks associated with the geotechnical environment.

The lines of research described above can be applied on four strategic fronts:

• Basic geotechnics
• Slopes, hillsides, riverbeds and geotechnical zoning
• Underground excavations
• Materials and pavements

Research Groups

The two research groups supporting the Program are: the Geotechnical Research Group GIGUN and the Residual and Partially Saturated Soil Research Group GISRP.

Laboratories

The following laboratory equipment is available:

• Equipment for basic characterization of stone materials.
• Triaxial equipment for monotonic, cyclic and stress trajectory tests on soils.
• Consolidation and direct cutting equipment.
• Equipment for testing resistance, deformability and degradation of rocks.
• Complete laboratory for pavement testing.
• Specialized equipment of field for control of pavements: deflectometer of impact and georradar
• Seismograph.
• Equipment for suction tests.
• It is also supported by other faculties in equipment such as electronic microscope, optical microscopes, X-ray diffraction, etc.