Earth Sciences

Earth Surface and Water is the study of physical phenomena within the Earth's environment, their spatial and temporal characteristics and relationships and the evolution towards our modern landscape.

The Earth Surface and Water programme trains students to quantitatively study the natural and human-induced physical and chemical processes, patterns, and dynamics of Earth's continental and coastal systems as well as their responses to global change. The main subject areas consist of the dynamics of coastal and river systems, (geo-)hydrological processes, groundwater remediation, land degradation in dry lands and mountainous regions, natural hazards, and delta evolution on centennial and longer time scales.Students explore and understand the modelling capabilities of the past, present, and future as well as the evolution of Earth's environment, including human impact on this evolution. The Earth Surface and Water programme focuses on imminent societal problems, such as society's increased vulnerability to climate and environmental changes and to natural hazards such as flooding, storms, and mass movements. It also addresses the threats and opportunities resulting from human activity on our physical environment, including the hydrological cycle.

Earth, Life and Climate is an interdisciplinary study of the processes that govern past, present and future climates, environments and biotic responses.

The programme Earth, Life, and Climate explores the fundamental processes which regulate the past, present, and future dynamics of sedimentary systems, biodiversity, and climate, as well as their evolution. It provides the knowledge to understand climate change and its impact on natural environments such as soils, sediments, lakes, groundwater, wetlands, estuaries, and oceans. The main topics include the evolution of life, the development of sedimentary basins, carbon sources and sinks, biogeochemical and geochemical fingerprinting of sedimentary processes/environments, and climate reconstruction. Students will learn state-of-the-art reconstruction methods, modelling techniques, and laboratory experiments used in a wide range of earth and beta science disciplines. These disciplines include biogeology, palaeontology, sedimentology, stratigraphy, environmental geochemistry, organic geochemistry, hydrology, physical geography, geology, biology, climate dynamics, and palaeoceanography. Students utilize these skills in their own research project or in the traineeships they undertake in preparation for an international career in applied or fundamental research.

Earth Structure and Dynamis is the study of the composition, structure and evolution of the Earth's crust, mantle and core.

The program Earth Structure and Dynamics links geological, geophysical, geochemical and geodetic observations made at the Earth's surface to physical processes operating within the planet. The program can be seen as combining physics, chemistry, mathematics, geology and field studies to address how the Solid Earth works. It allows specialization in virtually any aspect of Solid Earth Science, ranging from theoretical geophysics to pure geology or geochemistry, with many students choosing a combined geology-geophysics focus. The main subject areas consist of seismology, tectonophysics, mantle dynamics, structural geology, metamorphism, magmatic processes, basin evolution, hydrocarbon and mineral deposits, and the properties of Earth materials. Students examine processes ranging from slow geodynamic processes – such as mantle convection, plate tectonics, and mountain building – to those that can have an impact during a human lifetime. These include active crustal deformation, seismicity, and volcanism as well as subsidence, uplift, and seismicity induced by hydrocarbon production and geological storage of CO2.

On the Biogeosciences and Evolution track students focus on the evolution and response of biota to perturbations in their environments.

This track focuses on reconstructing historical climate changes to identify the external and internal forces driving climate change and to understand the response of the Earth system to these forces.

The study of natural and human-induced processes, patterns, and products in the world's wave-, river-, and tide-dominated coasts and in alluvial rivers (including coast-river interaction).