The Faculty of Civil Engineering was established as the College in 1969. The decision to establish the College of Technical Construction Trades (Viša tehnička građevinska škola – VTGŠ) was made on May 29, 1969. This day is considered the beginning of higher education for construction workers in Rijeka. The first students enrolled at VTGŠ in the fall of 1969. University studies of civil engineering (VII. level) started in 1971 at the Construction Department of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Shipbuilding in Rijeka and lasted until the end of July 1976. In August 1976, the Faculty of Civil Engineering Rijeka (hereinafter “the Faculty”) was registered at the Regional Commercial Court in Rijeka with the aim of educating “construction experts with college/university degrees”. On May 26, 1977, the Faculty was integrated into the University of Rijeka. In 1978 the Faculty changed its name to the Faculty of Civil Engineering, University of Rijeka. Since 1982, the Faculty of Civil Engineering, University of Rijeka has been a basic organisation for associated work within the work organisation of the Institute of Civil Engineering Zagreb (Građevinski institut Zagreb) and since July 1, 1991, the Faculty of Civil Engineering in Rijeka has been an independent scientific and educational as well as scientific and research institution.
Since its establishment, the Faculty was located in Podhumskih žrtava 4 Street, but due to lack of space, classes were held in different places. After the Faculty moved to the building in Viktor Cara Emina Street in 1985, classes were held in a single location. In November 2011, the Faculty was moved to a newly constructed building on the Trsat University campus, which completely solved the problem of lack of space. The new building houses not only lecture halls and offices, but also five fully equipped laboratories.
At the time of its establishment, in 1976, there were only six permanent faculty members and two permanent teaching assistants. In 1978, the permanent teaching staff consisted of 21 teachers and 8 teaching assistants. Since then, the Faculty has steadily increased in number and currently includes approximately 85 faculty members.
Since 2005, the Faculty has offered bachelor’s and master’s degree study programmes in civil engineering (university undergraduate and graduate studies) as well as vocational undergraduate and graduate study programmes in civil engineering. All study programmes were designed in accordance with the Bologna principles and accredited by the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports in 2005. Currently, about 800 students study at the Faculty. Since its establishment, over 5.000 diploma theses, 12 master’s theses and over 30 doctoral theses have been defended at all levels of university and vocational studies.
The Faculty provides high quality education of professionals in the field of civil engineering and related disciplines. The activities of the Faculty are:
- Organisation and implementation of university undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate studies, as well as vocational undergraduate and graduate studies;
- Scientific activity in the scientific field of technical sciences, in the scientific field of civil engineering and basic technical sciences, and in related fields;
- Professional work and knowledge transfer to society in the scientific field of technical sciences, in the scientific field of civil engineering and basic technical sciences, and in related fields.
There is a growing mobility of teachers and students, mainly through the ERASMUS + and CEEPUS programmes. Each year our students and teachers visit various European universities, and foreign students and teachers visit our faculty.
The participation of our staff in professional and scientific projects ensures constant monitoring of the state of the art, and the scientific and professional knowledge developed at the Faculty is at the service of the community in which the Faculty operates.
Our employees are active members in various professional associations and organisations, where they contribute with their knowledge to the development of the civil engineering profession in the Republic of Croatia. In addition, through their activities in various other bodies, they ensure the recognition of the Faculty in society.
