Master's degree in Water Engineering

Barcelona School of Civil Engineering (ETSECCPB)

The aim of the master's degree in Water Engineering is to produce professionals who have a multidisciplinary engineering background that allows them to tackle the research, design and analysis of infrastructure and modelling and management projects in hydrotechnology and the environment. These professionals will be able to advise public administrations, companies and industries at local, regional, national and international levels.

The master’s degree includes a double major in Urban Water Cycle Operations in collaboration with the General Water Society of Barcelona (SGAB).

General details

Duration and start date

1.5 academic years, 90 ECTS credits. Starting September

Timetable and delivery

Face-to-face

Fees and grants

Approximate fees for the master’s degree, excluding other costs (does not include non-teaching academic fees and issuing of the degree certificate):
€2,490 (€9,496 for non-EU residents).
More information about fees and payment options
More information about grants and loans

Language of instruction

Check the language of instruction for each subject in the course guide in the curriculum.

Information on language use in the classroom and students’ language rights.

Location

Barcelona School of Civil Engineering

Official degree

Recorded in the Ministry of Education's degree register

Admission

General requirements: Academic requirements for admission to master's degrees
Places: 30
Pre-enrolment: Pre-enrolment period open.
Expected deadline: 01/07/2025.
How to pre-enrol
Enrolment: How to enrol
Legalisation of foreign documents: All documents issued in non-EU countries must be legalised and bear the corresponding apostille.

Curriculum

First semester

Coastal Engineering and Oceanography 5
Digitalisation, Data Science and Machine Learning in Water Engineering 5
Hydrogeology for Sustainable Development 5
Integrated Management of Water Resources 5
Sustainable Planning for Hydraulic Infrastructure Design 5
Water Quality and Treatment 5

Second semester

Advanced Operations and Service Digitalisation 5
Aquifer-Dependant Natural Systems 5
Coastal Processes and Dynamics 5
Coastal Sustainability: Defence and Realignment 5
Debris Flow and Flash Flood. Risk, Vulnerability, Hazard and Resilience Concepts 5
Interaction Between Groundwater and Civil Works 5
Management of Water and Waste Treatment Plants 5
Pollutant Transport Modelling 5
River Dynamics 5
Stochastic Methods in Hydrology 5
Water Company Management 5
Water Utility Management 5

Third semester

Coastal Flooding: Impacts, Conflicts and Risks 3
Global Warming Effects, Flood and Drought Management 3
Life Cycle Analysis and Sustainability 5
Master's Thesis 30
Urban Hydrology 5
Water Treatment 5

CompulsoryECTS
OptionalECTS
ProjectECTS

Professional opportunities

Professional opportunities

Water resources engineer responsible for planning, managing and controlling water resources in public or private sectors in agriculture, energy and urban management.
Water treatment specialist: expert in the management of drinking water or wastewater treatment plants who supervises water purification, desalination and reuse processes.
Environmental consultant: advisor specialising in projects related to the sustainable management of aquatic areas who prepares environmental impact studies and mitigation plans for both public and private sectors.
Project manager in hydrological, hydraulic or coastal engineering responsible for managing and executing projects related to constructing and maintaining hydraulic infrastructure, such as dams, distribution networks, drainage systems and channels, and coastal protection works.
Hydrological or hydraulic engineer dedicated to the study of the behaviour of water in natural or artificial systems who contributes to projects on river and coastal flooding, erosion or energy use in hydroelectric power plants.
Risk management specialist who analyses, manages and designs strategies to prevent and mitigate the risks associated with river and coastal floods, droughts and other natural phenomena related to aquatic environments.
Researcher in the field of hydrological, hydraulic or coastal engineering: participation in innovation projects and the development of new technologies or methods for efficient water management, such as monitoring systems, simulation models and new treatment techniques.
Specialist in sanitation systems and related infrastructure responsible for designing, supervising and maintaining sanitation and sewage systems, as well as other urban water management infrastructure.
Water sustainability manager: expert who works in companies or organisations to ensure the efficient and responsible use of water resources within a framework of sustainability.
Professor or instructor in the field of water engineering who is dedicated to university education or technical training at vocational schools, research centres and educational organisations.

Competencies

Generic competencies

Generic competencies are the skills that graduates acquire regardless of the specific course or field of study. The generic competencies established by the UPC are capacity for innovation and entrepreneurship, sustainability and social commitment, knowledge of a foreign language (preferably English), teamwork and proper use of information resources.

Specific competencies

Use impact management and assessment instruments in river, coastal and groundwater environments, from an economic perspective and according to current legislation.
Lead actions based on project evaluation parameters and analyse their viability.
Implement conventional and non-conventional solutions in the field of water engineering.
Carry out and present and defend before an examination committee an original, individual piece of work consisting of a study or project in the field of water engineering that synthesises the competencies acquired, incorporates new developments and contributes new ideas.
Integrate the values of sustainability and understand the complexity of systems, with the aim of undertaking or promoting actions that restore and maintain the health of ecosystems and improve justice, thereby generating visions of sustainable futures.
Analyse problems that require making autonomous, informed and reasoned decisions in order to act with social responsibility following ethical values and principles.
Evaluate inequalities based on sex and gender to design solutions that resolve them.