The Master's Degree program aims at providing a comprehensive training for the professionals of this growing and rewarding sector, focusing on engineering, but including aspects of data science, actuarial science, and social sciences. Graduates of the program will have a broad understanding of the many facets of catastrophe, risk, and resilience modeling, and deeper knowledge in a selected aspect and field of application, such as infrastructure resilience against disasters, forecasting of epidemics, or probabilistic modeling applied to engineering and science. Graduates of the programs will be ready to be hired by private companies in the (re)insurance sector, catmodeling firms, and general consulting firms focusing on resilience assessment. Moreover, they will be sought after for positions in the public sector, in emergency management agencies, local administrations, and government agencies, among others.
The program is hybrid and can be completed in one year or take more time, depending on the other duties of the student. It includes six required courses (spanning catastrophe modeling, resilience assessment, data science, numerical methods, and actuarial science), three elective courses from a broad portfolio that covers various fields of application to natural hazards and public health, and one free elective course.
The most common timeline to complete a Master of Science program at Lehigh is 16 months by taking three courses during the academic semesters and one course during the summer.
Fall 1: CAT 401 – Catastrophe Modeling & Resilience; DSCI 310 – Introduction to Data Science; BIOE 463 – Numerical Methods for Scientists and Engineers.
Spring 1: CAT 402 – Applications of Catastrophe Modeling & Resilience; CAT 403 – Mathematics of Actuarial Science; Approved Elective.
Summer 1: CAT 412 – Supervised Research in Catastrophe Modeling & Resilience.
Fall 2: CAT 411 – Catastrophe Modeling & Resilience Capstone; Approved Elective; Free Elective.
Other course options and program timelines are available.
For a dedicated student, it is possible to complete the program in only 11 months, by taking 4 courses per academic semester and two during the summer. This option is particularly convenient for Lehigh graduates who can transfer some credits from their undergraduate program.
Summer: DSCI 310 – Introduction to Data Science; Free elective.
Fall: CAT 401 – Catastrophe Modeling & Resilience; BIOE 463 – Numerical Methods for Scientists and Engineers; Approved elective; Approved elective.
Spring: CAT 402 – Applications of Catastrophe Modeling & Resilience; CAT 403 – Mathematics of Actuarial Science; CAT 411 – Catastrophe Modeling & Resilience Capstone; CAT 412 – Supervised Research in Catastrophe Modeling & Resilience.
Other course options and program timelines are available.
Part-time students will be able to take the core and elective courses of the program at a pace compatible with their other duties and needs. All core courses will be offered in a hybrid format, to enable remote participation and make the program compatibile with other committments. A set of approved elective and free elective courses will also allow remote/hybrid participation.