Earth and Environmental Sciences – (M.Phil.)

The School is committed to active and developing research programmes in a wide range of subjects within the earth and environmental sciences. In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise the overall quality profile obtained was: 4* 5%, 3* 40%, 2* 45% and 1 10%. Thus 90% of the research carried out within the School is assessed to be of international standard. Since then we have further improved our research environment and analytical equipment, and recruited a new cohort of fully-funded PhD students. Staff collaborate in joint research projects with many other institutions within the UK, Europe, and further afield.

The main task of a research student is independent research of the chosen topic, working closely with a director of studies who guides and advises throughout the period of research; at the end of the period of study, the results of the research are embodied in a thesis, which is examined at a viva voce examination when a candidate is required to defend his or her thesis; supervision is available for research in 6 key areas: applied geosciences; crustal evolution; palaeobiology; biodiversity; applications and environmental controls; human impact on the aquatic environment; and materials in the environment.

The course can be studied full-time over two years or part-time over four years.