Departmental Unit № 1
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering
100% Full Funding Guaranteed (5 Years)
Funding Package: Full tuition waiver + 12-month living stipend (~$37,000–$41,000/yr) + health insurance (GAIP) guaranteed through Research Assistantships (RA) or Teaching Assistantships (TA).
Fall Priority Deadline: December 15
GRE Policy: Not required / Waived
English Minimums: TOEFL iBT 92 minimum (Speaking 26 for TA) or IELTS 7.0 minimum
MS in Civil and Environmental Engineering (Thesis)
Thesis MS Frequently Funded via RA
Funding Reality: UW CEE is one of the top public research departments where faculty frequently fund thesis MS students as full Research Assistants (RA) with tuition waivers.
Application Deadline: December 15
Admissions Advisory: If full funding is required and MS is self-funded, students are strongly advised to apply directly to the PhD track.
Vetted Matched Scholars (3 Profiles)
Prof. Faisal Hossain
Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering; AGU Ambassador
In Plain Terms · What This Scholar Does:
He uses NASA satellites in space to forecast deadly river floods and protect millions of vulnerable people in un-gauged, flood-prone river basins around the world.
Core Research Topics: Satellite remote sensing of water resources, spaceborne hydrology, NASA SWOT satellite mission, flood forecasting early warning, transboundary river basins.
Recent 2024–2026 Works & Grants: Director of the SASWE (Sustainability, Satellites, Water, Energy) Research Group. Winner of the 2026 AGU Ambassador Award and NASA Early Adopter Award. Uses satellite radar altimetry and SWOT satellite data to deliver operational flood forecasting and water-energy management systems for developing river basins (Mekong, Ganges-Brahmaputra).
Laboratory Instruments & Methods: NASA SWOT satellite products, satellite radar altimetry, Google Earth Engine, distributed hydrologic models, mobile decision support systems, Python.
Recruiting Context: Prominent international leader in satellite hydrology applications. Regularly recruits funded graduate students (both MS thesis and PhD). Direct match for candidate!
Candidate Match:
Remote SensingHydrologyFlood ModelingGISPython
Tailored Cold-Email Opening Hook:
"Congratulating him on his 2026 AGU Ambassador Award and referencing his SASWE satellite remote sensing work with NASA SWOT for flood forecasting in transboundary basins, pitching your GIS and remote sensing background."
Prof. Bart Nijssen
Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
In Plain Terms · What This Scholar Does:
He writes the massive open-source computer code that scientists and governments across the globe use to simulate how melting snowpack and changing rain supply water to entire continents.
Core Research Topics: Large-scale computational hydrology, mountain snow hydrology, hydrologic model development (VIC, SUMMA), climate change impacts on water supplies.
Recent 2024–2026 Works & Grants: Directs the UW Hydro Group. Primary developer of the VIC macroscale hydrologic model and the SUMMA framework. Leading continental-scale hydrological simulations across North America predicting streamflow, snowpack loss, and water shortages.
Laboratory Instruments & Methods: VIC & SUMMA hydrological models, spatial grid data processing, climate model downscaling, high-performance computing, Python/Fortran.
Recruiting Context: Core member of the world-famous UW Hydrology program. Looking for students with strong computational hydrology and spatial data backgrounds.
Candidate Match:
HydrologyGISClimate HazardsPython
Tailored Cold-Email Opening Hook:
"Discussing his work on large-scale hydrological model architectures (VIC/SUMMA) and spatial streamflow forecasting, connecting to your hydrological and programming background."
Prof. Rebecca B. Neumann
Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
In Plain Terms · What This Scholar Does:
She investigates how plant roots suck up water from contaminated aquifers, solving how deadly toxic chemicals like arsenic enter our food and drinking water.
Core Research Topics: Hydrogeology, groundwater-plant interactions, groundwater arsenic and toxic contaminant transport, wetland hydrology, plant root water uptake.
Recent 2024–2026 Works & Grants: Investigates how groundwater flow, plant root water suction, and biogeochemical reactions control the movement of toxic arsenic into agricultural rice paddies and drinking water wells.
Laboratory Instruments & Methods: Subsurface groundwater flow simulation, isotopic chemical tracers, plant physiological sensors, wet-lab geochemical testing.
Recruiting Context: Well-funded group at the intersection of groundwater hydrology and environmental chemical testing.
Candidate Match:
HydrologyEnvironmental PollutionLab Water TestingWater Quality
Tailored Cold-Email Opening Hook:
"Highlighting your laboratory water testing background and interest in hydrogeology and groundwater contaminant transport."
Departmental Unit № 2
Department of Geography
PhD in Geography
100% Full Funding Guaranteed (5 Years)
Funding Package: Full tuition waiver + stipend (~$37,000/yr) + health insurance guaranteed through TA/RA appointments.
Fall Priority Deadline: December 15
GRE Policy: Not required
English Minimums: TOEFL iBT 92 or IELTS 7.0
MA in Geography (En route to PhD)
Funded on PhD Track
Funding Reality: Admitted directly into the fully-funded PhD track, earning MA en route.
Application Deadline: December 15
Admissions Advisory: If full funding is required and MS is self-funded, students are strongly advised to apply directly to the PhD track.
Vetted Matched Scholars (1 Profiles)
Prof. Bo Zhao
Associate Professor of Geography
In Plain Terms · What This Scholar Does:
He investigates artificial intelligence and satellite mapping, teaching computer algorithms to automatically analyze spatial patterns and detect altered satellite images.
Core Research Topics: GIScience, GeoAI, Humanistic GIS, spatial data science, deep learning for satellite imagery, geospatial misinformation.
Recent 2024–2026 Works & Grants: Directs the Humanistic GIS Lab at UW. Investigates how GeoAI and generative machine learning can synthesize or analyze spatial data, satellite image pattern recognition, and digital environmental mapping.
Laboratory Instruments & Methods: GeoAI, deep learning for satellite imagery (PyTorch), Web GIS, spatial databases (PostGIS), Python geospatial libraries.
Recruiting Context: Core faculty in GIScience. Direct match for candidates with BSc in Geography interested in GIS and GeoAI.
Candidate Match:
GISGeoAIRemote SensingGeographyPython
Tailored Cold-Email Opening Hook:
"Discussing your background in GIS and environmental geography, expressing strong interest in his GeoAI and spatial data science research in the Humanistic GIS Lab."