Join the UCPRC as a UC Davis MS or PhD student
The University of California Pavement Research Center (UCPRC) offers a dynamic, hands-on learning experience for graduate students pursuing an MS or PhD in civil and environmental engineering with a focus on pavement engineering. Over the years, our hundreds of graduates have secured impactful roles in the United States and across the world, contributing significantly to various sectors of the pavement industry.
Students at UCPRC benefit from comprehensive laboratory and field experience, close collaboration with the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and industry partners, and the development of essential knowledge and skills in technical writing, critical thinking, and scholarly research by taking several advanced pavement courses and working with world-class pavement scholars and engineers at UCPRC.
We are committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive community, recruiting students from around the globe with varied cultures and backgrounds. A master's degree (GPA > 3.0) is required for PhD applicants from outside North America. Applicants with research or work experience in pavement-related topics will be given priority.
Are you interested in joining our vibrant group?
Find more information about the graduate school application process
For more information about UCPRC or assistance with the application process, please contact us at ucprc@ucdavis.edu.
Student Testimonials
Liya Jiao, PhD
California Department of Transportation
Materials Engineering and Testing Services
“Pursuing my PhD degree at the University of California Pavement Research Center (UCPRC) at UC Davis has been a truly valuable experience for me. UCPRC offered a lot of great opportunities and resources to support me in gaining in-depth knowledge of civil engineering. The laboratory has state-of-the-art testing equipment, provides training for students to have hands-on experience with civil engineering material, and offers a wide array of exciting research topics to explore. The Pavement Engineering classes will be directly applicable for the rest of my engineering career. It is an enjoyable experience working with the professors, engineers, staff, and students, many of whom I have formed lifelong friendships with. After graduation, I joined a consulting firm where I found not only the technical skills developed during my time at UCPRC helpful but also the problem-solving ability and curiosity to uncover underlying mechanisms. These skills enabled me in my journey after UCPRC to contribute to Caltrans’ efforts in pursuing better pavement performance from various aspects."
Will Carruth, PE
Research Civil Engineer
U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center
“I am currently pursuing my PhD in Civil Engineering at UC Davis in conjunction with UCPRC while also working full-time for the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC). I have been very fortunate to participate in a program through my employer that provides funding for my classes while I write my dissertation using data from one of my current research projects. When deciding where to continue my education, UC Davis quickly reached the top of the list. I had met several researchers from UCPRC at conferences, meetings, and other events in my community of practice and had also read many of their publications. I realized that UCPRC and ERDC had many overlapping goals as they work to return pavements to service quickly while also minimizing cost and logistics while maximizing performance.
The topic of my dissertation (use of full-depth recycling on military airfield pavements) aligned well with ongoing and past research at UCPRC. UCPRC has been one of the leaders in researching many types of pavement recycling, and my goal has been to learn as much as possible from the research team as ERDC begins to implement recycling techniques for military airfield pavements. All members of UCPRC have provided excellent guidance and have been very available to answer questions throughout my research projects.”
The UC Pavement Research Center, in Partnership with the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), is a research division of the UC Davis and UC Berkeley Colleges of Engineering and is committed to improving pavement structures, materials, and technologies. Current areas of technical expertise and focus include in-place recycling methods (FDR, CR, CCPR), high recycled content (RAP) hot mix asphalt, asphalt concrete with recycled tire rubber, standard inventories for the state’s materials, long life asphalt designs, bonded concrete on asphalt (BCOA) designs, supplementary cementitious materials with a focus on industrial waste and bio-materials, balanced and SuperPave design methods, and performance-related specification development.