​Welcome to the Department of Environmental Engineering

overview

The Environmental Engineering Program at the Faculty of Engineering Sciences of the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev offers a multidisciplinary approach to solving environmental problems. Research and teaching in the program focus on fundamental understanding of the basic chemical, physical, and biological processes underlying environmental engineering and science problems.

Areas of research specialization include: physical, chemical, and biological processes for water quality control; aerosols and air pollution modeling and control; aquatic chemistry; transport and fate of pollutants in water, air, and soil; treatment of solid waste and hazardous materials; membrane separation processes; bioremediation of contaminated soil and groundwater; and more.

Students with a bachelor of science in engineering or related areas such as chemistry, geology, biology, or environmental science, may apply for admission to the M.Sc. Program in Environmental Engineering. The courses are taught in Hebrew.

Degree Programs

Master of Science (M.Sc.)

The M.Sc. degree is configured to provide a broad foundation in environmental engineering to enable adaptability in industrial, applied or research applications.

The program can be carried out in two routes:

Full Thesis route – which requires 24 credit points of courses and a full thesis (12 credit points).

• Short Thesis route – which requires 32 credit points of courses and a short thesis (4 credit points).

Degree Requirements (distribution of credit points)

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Admission criteria for the doctoral degree (Ph.D.) are defined by The Kreitman School of Advanced Graduate Studies.

Courses

Complementary Courses

Complementary courses are required for students who do not have engineering education.  The complementary program is designed on an individual basis to meet the needs and interests of each student. Graduates of engineering departments should complete a few courses according to their specific background.

Complementary Requirements for non-engineering students or college graduates*

*Mathematical background is needed for these courses, including knowledge in the subjects of:

                - Differential and Integral Calculus 1 for Biotechnology

                - Linear Algebra for Biotechnology

                - Ordinary Differential Equations for Biotechnology

These courses or similar ones should be completed officially or independently by the candidates.

Core compulsory courses

Core compulsory courses include basic necessary courses on environmental chemistry, microbiology and mathematics, and the basic technological courses on treatment processes for water and air.

Elective courses

These courses enable to enrich specific routes of knowledge that fits the student research.

Thesis

Regular students must choose a topic and a supervisor for the thesis by the beginning of the second semester. A regular student is one that either does not need complementary courses or has successfully completed them. A student who did not complete all complementary courses, can choose a thesis topic and a supervisor pending on the approval of “The Graduate Studies Committee". Any member of the Department of Biotechnology Engineering or the Unit of Environmental Engineering can serve as a sole supervisor. In addition, a faculty member of any BGU department or from another university, as well as a senior researcher from the industry sector, can be a supervisor, together with a member of the Faculty of Engineering Sciences. The student should submit to the “Graduate Studies Committee" of the Unit a research proposal, approved by the supervisor/s, within six months of becoming a regular student. The research proposal should be reviewed and approved by the “Graduate Studies Committee". Progress reports should be submitted to the “Graduate Studies Committee", approved by the supervisor, at the beginning of the second year. After submission of the thesis, the student will defend the work according to the procedure of the Faculty of Engineering Sciences.

Laboratory of Water Technologies

The core compulsory courses include a process laboratory course, dedicated to water treatment technologies that include: Membrane Separation (Micro-filtration and Ultra-filtration), Water Desalination (Nano-filtration and Reverse Osmosis), Water Disinfection (UV and Chlorine), Adsorption on Activated Carbon, Coagulation-Flocculation, Deep-bed granular filtration, and Biological treatment of wastewater.

Water Technologies Pilot Plant sites

The Unit has constructed several pilot plant experimental stations in several locations, where pilot-plant scale processes can be studied as part of research projects.