Masters degrees in Geotechnology are primarily concerned with the engineering behaviour of earth materials, the products they contain, and their relationship with civil structures.
Related postgraduate specialisms include Geographical Information Systems. Entry requirements normally include an undergraduate degree in an appropriate subject such as Engineering.
This programme focuses on scientific, technical and computational aspects of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and Geographical Information Science (GIScience), with particular reference to the socioeconomic and environmental sciences. It provides highly qualified and motivated students sought by employers in the sector.
Core modules introduce GIS, a rapidly evolving area in business, health and planning settings, as well as in environmental applications. You will be introduced to GIS packages and database systems, useful for those wanting to undertake social and environmental science research and those wanting to understand the application of geotechnology as practitioners. You’ll study theories and concepts underpinning GIS and explore topics including spatial data models, data capture, spatial analysis and statistical and mathematical modelling. Optional modules allow you to focus on quantitative human geography, environmental applications and programming GIS.
Other Study Options
This programme is available part time, allowing you to combine study with other commitments. You can work to fund your studies, or gain a new qualification without giving up an existing job. We aim to be flexible in helping you to put together a part-time course structure that meets your academic goals while recognising the constraints on your study time.
The programme manager is Dr Paul Norman.
You can also study this subject at Postgraduate Diploma level.
You will gain much from the strong emphasis on research in this programme. Besides enhancing knowledge and skills in numerous specialised courses, including a field-mapping course, you will conduct your own master’s thesis project within a research team (professor(s), postdoc(s), PhD-student(s)) and at the same time develop important scientific skills, such as reporting and presenting, needed in your future career.
This is an initial Master's programme and can be followed on a full-time or part-time basis.
The master’s programme offers 4 different majors: Geodynamics and Georesources, Surface Processes and Paleoenvironments, Geology of Basins and Soil and Groundwater.
The programme is firmly rooted in the research of the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences (KU Leuven) and the Department of Geology (Ghent University). Both departments continuously develop and maintain innovative and widely recognised research programmes on fundamental and applied aspects of geoscience. These generally involve collaborative efforts in various international research networks.
As a Master in Geology you may be involved in development tasks, research or management functions. In consultancy, you are likely to find a job in environmental geology, hydrogeology or geotechnology. In industry, you will be involved in exploration, exploitation andtreatment of natural resources. In governmental agencies and research institutions, you may be responsible for the inventory, management, research and use of the subsurface or for environmental issues.
If you dream of an academic career, you can start by embarking on a PhD-project in Leuven, Ghent, or elsewhere.
Geotechnics provides insight into geological engineering design work and highlights complications that can arise from engineering production. For example, they can predict and measure damage caused by natural disasters, and innovate ways to reduce and prevent future issues through the construction of structure such as dams. Our developing world needs safe and stable space, as our infrastructures expand onto new land and those who work in the line of work will ensure that this can happen effectively.
Upon graduation, you will have the skills to undertake professional employment in the civil, environmental, engineering geology, geotechnical engineering and mining-related industries. It also provides specialist knowledge in tunnel, surface and underground excavation design, and applied hydrogeology and risk assessment.
This programme is taught by the internationally established and world-class Camborne School of Mines (CSM), a combined mining school and geoscience department. It is taught over two semesters and individual projects are undertaken throughout the summer, often as industrial placements. The programme is suitable for geology and engineering graduates wishing to specialise in applied geotechnics
This degree is professionally accredited under licence from the Engineering Council, as meeting the requirements for Further Learning for a Chartered Engineer (CEng) for candidates who have already acquired an Accredited CEng (Partial) BEng (Hons) undergraduate first degree.
You can either study the course full time over a year or part-time over 3 years.
The compulsory modules can include;
Some examples of the optional modules are;
The modules listed here provide examples of what you can expect to learn on this degree course based on recent academic teaching. The precise modules available to you in future years may vary depending on staff availability and research interests, new topics of study, timetabling and student demand
The taught part of the programme is structured into two terms. Field visits and practical field-based assignments are used, where appropriate, to emphasise key areas within each module.
The project is undertaken from June to September, after the second semester examinations. You are encouraged to undertake projects directly linked with industry, which may result in industrial placements for the project period. The projects are normally design-based and allow further specialisation in a topic that is of particular interest to you. This could involve the use of state-of-the-art engineering design software, risk and hazard analysis and other analytical techniques.
Study petroleum and subsurface geoscience in Ireland and benefit from a modern interdisciplinary training delivered by leading researchers and industry specialists at University College Dublin.
UCD School of Earth Sciences provides a one-year full-time Petroleum Geoscience MSc. The course offers bright and motivated geoscience graduates a vocational training in the range of technical fields associated with hydrocarbon exploration and production, as a prelude to a career in the petroleum industry or to further studies at PhD level.
The UCD training experience:
· Covers all aspects of exploration, appraisal and development geoscience from pore to basin scale.
· Involves substantial field-based instruction (23 days) in classic outcrop locations including the Clare Basin, Ireland; Bristol Channel, UK; Pyrenees, Spain.
· Provides first-hand experience of typical industry workflows, experience with key industry software and a dedicated workstation for each student during the course.
· Involves problem-based learning drawing on a wide range of geophysical, subsurface, outcrop and ‘behind-outcrop’ datasets.
· Includes a three-month applied research project and possible industry placement.
Students accepted on to the course can apply for the Woodside Energy Masters Scholarship in Petroleum Geoscience (€15,000) and MSc Scholarship Opportunities in Petroleum-Related Courses from the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment (up to €12,000). Please see here for further details.
Graduates from the course will be equipped with all the necessary technical and transferable skills for a career in the petroleum industry or further studies at PhD level. Past students have found employment with exploration and production companies (including Shell, Petronas and Providence). Ireland is an EU country, and has a 24-month stay-back option allowing non-EU MSc graduates to remain in Ireland, working or seeking employment, for two years following graduation.
Semester 1 covers modules in Petroleum Systems, Basin Analysis and Modelling, Seismic Techniques, Petrophysics, Depositional Systems and Structural Geology.
Semester 2 then focusses on Exploration Geology and Production Geoscience with team-based exercises mimicking industry asset-team projects. Geological field excursions are a key component of the course with three trips to see classic outcrops of the Clare Basin (western Ireland), Bristol Channel and Wessex Basins (southern England) and the Ebro Basin (Pyrenees, Spain).
During the final semester students undertake a three-month independent research project on an exploration or development related theme with opportunities for summer internships working on company data.
The course builds on significant in-house research expertise in frontier exploration, rift and hyper-extended basin evolution, reservoir sedimentology, geophysical imaging techniques, fault analysis and reservoir and fluid flow modelling. Teaching is delivered by highly experienced academic staff, many of who have previously worked within industry and are recognised international leaders in a variety of petroleum geoscience disciplines.
The UCD School of Earth Sciences has an internationally recognised reputation for excellence in teaching and research. It is the lead participant and host for the Irish Centre for Research in Applied Geosciences (iCRAG) which conducts research in hydrocarbons, geophysics, 3D modelling and marine geoscience, as well as in geochemistry, geophysics, groundwater and raw materials.
Founded in 1854, University College Dublin is Ireland’s Global University with 235,000 alumni across 165 countries. The university is ranked number 1 in Ireland for Earth & Marine Sciences (QS World University Subject Rankings 2017).
Application can be made via the UCD webpage here. There is a rolling deadline for this course until such time as all places have been filled; therefore early application is advised. Course entry will generally require a minimum 2.1 Honours degree or equivalent in Geology, Geoscience, Earth Science, Geophysics or a cognate discipline but relevant industrial experience will also be taken into account.
Click here to visit the MSc Petroleum Geoscience page on the University College Dublin website to find out more and apply!
Exploration geology is concerned with the location of ore and other materials found within the earth. Their work is essential to energy and production industries as it acts as a starting point for extraction.
This MSc will equip students with specialist, essential knowledge and skills that are required when exploring and evaluating new mineral deposits around the world. As major orebodies are exhausted, the search for viable deposits in more complex geological terrains and in remote regions has intensified, creating a need for trained geologists able to carry out mineral exploration in varied environments.
The collection, interpretation and reporting of geoscientific data is the major focus of this course; based around a robust understanding of current theories for orebody genesis, exploration techniques and the application of industry-leading software. You will have the opportunity to gain experience in acquiring, synthesising and critically evaluating data from a range of remote sensing, geophysical, geochemical and drill hole sources. The programme provides pathways to careers in the national and international exploration and mining sectors as well as important transferable skills used in the broader geotechnical, site investigation and environmental industries.
Please note constituent modules and pathways may be updated, deleted or replaced in future years as a consequence of programme development. Details at any time may be obtained from the programme website.
The programme is delivered through a mix of lectures, workshops, tutorials, practical activities, case studies, industry visits, computer simulations, project work and a dissertation.
On this MSc programme you will receive a great deal of practical experience of working within the minerals industry. The programme aims to produce high-quality graduates who can enjoy high employment rates and easy transition into further PhD study. Emphasis remains on applied teaching and research relevant to careers in the earth resources and renewables sectors. Field visits and practical field-based assignments are used, where appropriate, to emphasise key areas within each module.
You will spend a significant proportion of your time in the field during the autumn term. Over the Easter period you are required to participate in an international field trip to visit mines and exploration projects in Scandinavia. This trip will prepare you to undertake typical greenfields and brownfields exploration work, including boulder tracing, stream sediment sampling and glacial till investigations, and link the results back to exploration targeting and existing operating mines.
From May to September you will undertake a major research project, usually in association with a mining/exploration company, and present a dissertation. Recent projects have been carried out in West Africa, Canada and Europe.
Examples of recent mineral exploration research projects
Geotechnical engineering examines the engineering behaviour of earth materials and is relevant to all engineering and construction practices that are concerned with the ground on both a surface level and within it. Geotechnical engineers investigate the ground and measure the chemical properties, evaluate the stability of the area and design earthworks and structure foundations enabling projects to take place.
The programme is multi-disciplinary in nature, and provides students with the knowledge of rock engineering, site investigation, data capture and data analysis required to understand the issues facing engineers excavating increasingly ambitious and complex underground spaces. This course is relevant to students entering or working in a range of engineering careers within the construction, environmental and extractive industries.
Featured content draws upon the unique expertise of the Camborne School of Mines, with strengths in the areas of rock mechanics and underground excavation, as well as specialist knowledge of working in extreme conditions and with high-stress or difficult ground.
Delivered by staff with strong research interests directly related to the topics covered, modules involve a broad range of activities and teaching delivery methods. This includes workshops using the latest industry relevant computational tools, practical activities and group and individual exercises.
In support of this research-led teaching, key experts from the extractive and construction industry will provide topical insight to the state of the industry and clarify the context for the theory covered in the lectures.
Please note constituent modules and pathways may be updated, deleted or replaced in future years as a consequence of programme development. Details at any time may be obtained from the programme website.
Optional modules include;
Teaching and assessment
The programme is delivered through a mix of lectures, workshops, tutorials, practical activities, case studies, industry visits, computer simulations, project work and a dissertation. The taught part of the programme is structured into two semesters. Field visits and practical field-based assignments are used, where appropriate, to emphasise key areas within each module.
A research- and practice-led culture
We believe every student benefits from being taught by experts active in research and practice. You will discuss the very latest ideas, research discoveries and new technologies in seminars and in the field and you will become actively involved in a research project yourself. All our academic staff are active in internationally-recognised scientific research across a wide range of topics.
Students are encouraged to undertake projects directly linked with industry, which may result in industrial placements for their project period.
