The School of Geosciences incorporates four departments; Archaeology, Geography and Environment, Geology and Geophysics, and Planetary Sciences. Our diverse community of academics and students is united by a common interest in the Earth – its past, present and future – and how we as humans interact with the planet we inhabit.
As a student here in Aberdeen, you will join us in tackling some of the most pressing issues facing society today, ranging from energy transition to water security and from environmental protection to heritage conservation.
Our teaching and research is shaped by our world-leading research and here you will enjoy access to state-of-the-art facilities and gain practical skills in the latest research methods. Our location in Aberdeen means we enjoy easy access to superb natural environments, as well as interesting socio-economic environments to study up close.
Interdisciplinary teaching is encouraged and joint honours degrees are encouraged. The School's disciplines are united in teaching and researching field-based subjects; we all believe in the value of showing students real-life examples as illustrated by the School motto:
The classroom is anywhere; the laboratory is everywhere.
School research ranges across the whole of the geosciences in both the social and natural sciences, addressing topics as diverse as mitigation of E. coli risk, to development of the topography and prehistoric societies of Sakhalin. We recognise future groupings and areas of research where the whole School can contribute such as:
- future energy options
- development of digital societies
- catastrophic natural processes
- hydrology and drainage evolution
- human impacts on the natural environment
Much of our ground-breaking research is being conducted within the Centre for Energy Transition (CET), in areas such as geothermal energy, carbon capture and storage, nuclear waste storage and critical materials for the energy transition.
In addition to creating world-class research clusters, staff of the School recognise a duty to our local area and community: to maintain the technology base which underpins the economy of the city and the region, to assist articulation and debate of policy options and to help local people to an awareness of the history and environment of their region.
We hope you enjoy learning more about the School of Geosciences.