Masters degrees in Hydrogeology offer advanced study of study of the physical, chemical and biological processes which occur at the interface between rock and water at or below the Earth's surface.
Related postgraduate specialisms include Water Engineering, and Applied Geotechnics. Entry requirements normally include an undergraduate degree in a relevant subject such as Geology or Marine Ecology.
Throughout the globe, the issues of water scarcity, water security, water economics and health and sanitation all rely on high-quality hydrogeology knowledge. This MSc will prepare you as a functional hydrogeologist to meet the needs of:
The course provides you with the theoretical and practical skills to succeed in a career as a hydrogeologist. You’ll develop sound fieldwork skills which are sought-after by employers.
The MSc involves a curriculum of eight core classes and a range of optional classes. Each module is taught two to three hours per week over eight to 11 weeks.
Alternatively, the Open Access programme allows professionals to take single modules for Continuous Professional Development (CPD) purposes, or build up towards six modules to gain a Postgraduate Certificate.
Following successful completion of the taught component, you’ll undertake a dissertation project. We encourage you to complete this overseas. Our MSc course leader has extensive contacts in arid countries such as Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia, the Middle East and Asia, giving you valuable, varied learning opportunities and practical experience around the world.
In the spring semester you go on a week-long field camp in Scotland. You’ll get the opportunity to put much of the learned theory into practice.
Site visits introduce you to the geology and hydrogeology of the study area. You’ll gain practical experience in conducting pump tests, recovery tests and chemical sampling.
As part of the class Independent Study in Collaboration with Industry you undertake a work placement where you report to the offices of a hydrogeological organisation and actively contribute to one of their ongoing projects.
This is a very valuable experience for you as it allows you to work as hydrogeologists for a number of weeks exposing yourself to a working environment as well as allowing you to build up contacts within industry.
One year full-time study involves attendance at classes over two terms, plus a dissertation during the third term.
Part-time (open to UK/EU students only) involves class attendance in Years 1 & 2 and a dissertation in Years 2 or 3. Depending on timetables, just two days work release per week may be needed for 24 weeks in the year.
You can also study this course part-time through online distance learning, over 36 months, offering a flexible learning mode of study.
Our £6 million state-of-the-art laboratory facilities are well-equipped with high-technological instrumentation and available space to investigate:
This degree is accredited as meeting the requirements for Further Learning for a Chartered Engineer (CEng) for candidates who have already acquired a partial CEng accredited undergraduate first degree.
For further information, visit the Joint Board of Moderators website.
You've the opportunity to undertake a work placement class where you’ll work with a hydrogeological organisation and actively contribute to one of their ongoing projects.
If you can't attend this course full-time on campus, there are various Flexible Learning options available to you.
This is initially a non-graduating route. You'll register for one 10 credit class at a time, and have the option to build up credits. This will eventually lead to a Postgraduate Certificate, Postgraduate Diploma or MSc. You can take up to five years to achieve the qualification.
This option is popular with students in employment, who might want to take classes for Continuing Professional Development purposes.
A range of qualifications will be considered for entry.
You can also study this course by Distance Learning, which is based on three years part-time study of 60 credits per year.
This allows you to complete the course by studying online at home at a time that suits you, without attending at our Glasgow campus. This means you can study while balancing your existing work and family commitments. This option is suitable for students located anywhere in the world.
Graduates with an MSc in Hydrogeology are in very high demand as there is an expected shortage of hydrogeologists that will continue for the next decade.
Additionally, throughout the world, the issue of water scarcity, water security, water economics and health and sanitation all rely on high quality hydrogeology knowledge.
A comprehensive training in the theory and practice of groundwater science and engineering, providing an excellent basis for careers in scientific, engineering and environmental consultancies, water companies, major industries, research, and government scientific and regulatory services in the UK and abroad.
Modules encompass the full range of groundwater studies and are supported by practical field sessions and computing and hydrogeological modelling based on industry standard software.
This is a vocational programme relevant to graduates with good Honours degrees in appropriate subjects (for example, Geosciences, Engineering, Physics, Mathematics, Chemistry, Biosciences, and Environmental Sciences). It is important to have a good knowledge of mathematics.
The lecture component of the programme encompasses the full range of hydrogeology. Modules cover drilling, well design, aquifer test analysis, laboratory test analysis, groundwater flow, hydrogeophysics, inorganic chemistry of groundwaters, organic contamination of groundwater, contaminated land and remediation, groundwater modelling, contaminant transport, hydrology, and groundwater resources assessment.
These lecture modules are supported by practical field sessions, and by computing and hydrogeological modelling based on industry standard software. Integration of concepts developed in the taught programmes is facilitated through student-centred investigations of current issues linked to a diverse range of hydrogeological environments.
Examinations are held in January and April. From May onwards, you undertake a project, a report on which is submitted in September.
Projects may be field-, laboratory-, or modelling- based, and are usually of an applied nature, although a few are research-orientated. Our chemical (inorganic and organic), rock testing, computing, geophysical and borehole-logging equipment is available for you to use during this period.
Career openings include those with consulting engineering and environmental firms, government scientific services and regional water companies, both in this country and abroad. Demand for hydrogeologists is substantial and students from the course are highly regarded by employers.
Hydrogeology is the study of groundwater; an essential component of the world’s water supply. More than 2 billion people depend on groundwater for their daily needs (approximately 30% of water supplied in the UK is groundwater).
The aim of our Hydrogeology MSc Course is to provide students who have a good scientific or engineering background with a comprehensive training in the fundamentals of groundwater science and engineering, together with considerable practical experience.
The School is well supported and you will have the use of all equipment and facilities appropriate to your work:
Computing
You will have access to the multiple clusters of PCs in the University Learning Centre and Library, and the School-based Earth Imaging Laboratory. The MSc course also has its own dedicated room for teaching and study with six PCs for convenient access to email, web and on-line learning resources.
The University based computers have an extensive range of software installed that covers the needs of students of all disciplines, but in common with the School-based PCs, specialist software packages used routinely by professional hydrogeologists are installed for our MSc students. These include industry standard groundwater flow modelling, contaminant transport modelling, geochemical modelling, geophysical interpretation and field and laboratory hydraulic test analysis packages. You can also register for more specialist software on the University high speed BlueBEAR computing facility if your individual project requires it. Research software developed within the Water Sciences research group is also available.
Laboratories
The School is well equipped for inorganic and organic chemical analysis of field and laboratory samples. Facilities include: Total Organic Carbon analysis, Gas Chromatography, ICP Mass Spectrometry, Ion Chromatography, Stable Isotope Mass Spectrometry and Luminescence and UV/visible spectroscopy. These facilities have been used in a wide range of MSc projects, for both standard geochemical analysis of groundwater samples and for more specific purposes including studies of persistent organic pollutants and toxic heavy metals in the environment, and denitrification in river beds.
The School also has a dedicated microbiology laboratory equipped with an autoclave for sterilizing media and equipment, a class II safety cabinet for handing microbial samples, and incubators.
Facilities are also available within the School and elsewhere for geological material analysis, including thin section preparation and microscopy, a wide range of electron microscopy techniques, XRD, pore size distribution determination, and surface area measurement.
Fieldwork
The School has two field sites on campus for use by MSc students and research staff. Both consist of arrays of boreholes drilled into the underlying sandstone aquifer to depths of up to 60m.
The groundwater group is well stocked with field equipment, which is used extensively in research projects, for teaching, and particularly on individual MSc projects. This equipment includes pumping test equipment (submersible pumps, generators, packers, digital pressure transducers, data loggers, divers, dip meters, pipe-work and installation frames); chemical sampling and tracer transport equipment (depth samplers, sampling pumps, tracer test equipment and field fluorimeter, hand held EC, pH and EH probes, portable chemical lab kit); geophysical equipment (resistivity imaging, electromagnetic surveying, ground penetrating radar, and borehole logging); and a secure, towable, mobile laboratory for off-site testing.
Fieldwork and projects transform theory into practice and form a large part of the course. They are supported by extensive field, laboratory and technical facilities.
A weeklong course of practical work and site visits is held in Week 7 of the Autumn Term. The content varies from year to year, but typically includes pumping tests, small-scale field tests, chemical sampling, and geophysics using the research boreholes on campus. Visits to landfill sites, water resources schemes, wetlands, and drilling sites are also arranged in collaboration with the Environment Agency, consultants and landfill operators. During the Spring Term, field demonstrations are provided by chemical sampling equipment distributors and manufacturers. You will gain further field experience either during your own 4.5 month project or when helping your colleagues on other projects.
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.
Looking after our water resources has never been more important or more challenging. The world needs engineering graduates who can tackle the problems of flooding, pollution and infrastructure design. Our MSc aims to meet that demand.
Powered by the world-leading research of our own specialists, the course offers training in sustainable urban development, environmental management, and the chance to carry out research of your own. This is the basic structure:
The first semester gives you a grounding in the relevant engineering science: hydrology, hydraulics, hydrogeology and modelling methods. In the second semester, you’ll apply that knowledge to a series of topics, including: urban drainage, groundwater remediation and open channel flow.
We are one of the largest and most active civil engineering departments in the UK. All our masters courses are informed by our own world-leading research and industry needs. The 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF) puts us in the UK top four.
Our structures-based courses are accredited by The Institution of Civil Engineers, Institution of Structural Engineers, Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation, and Institute of Highway Engineers as satisfying part 2 academic base requirements for a Chartered Engineer under UK-SPEC.
Our graduates work for top UK and international consultancies, contractors, regulators, universities and other private and public sector organisations.
Many of them join engineering consultancies, in roles such as Structural Engineer, Building Services Engineer and Sustainability Consultant. Some join architecture practices. Employers include Arup, Buro Happold, Capita Symonds, Roger Preston and Partners, Cundall and Foster and Partners.
Lectures, design tutorials, computational tutorials, lab work and industrial seminars.
All courses use lectures by academic staff and industrial partners, laboratory work, site visits, design projects and dissertation. Assessment is by formal examinations, coursework assignments and a dissertation with oral examination.
Your research dissertation gives you the opportunity to work with an academic on a piece of research in a subdiscipline. We’ll give you training in research skills.
This flexible MSc programme is suitable for individuals who already have an accredited undergraduate civil engineering degree and who are seeking to further their engineering skills and achieve chartered status.
This degree is accredited by the Joint Board of Moderators as meeting the requirements for further learning for a chartered engineer (CEng) for candidates who have already acquired a partial CEng-accredited undergraduate first degree and for holders of an IEng-accredited first degree, to meet the educational base for a chartered engineer.
You will study a range of advanced civil engineering subjects linked to cutting-edge research. These include earthquake engineering dynamics and design, advanced geotechnics and rock mechanics, bridge engineering and advanced hydraulics. You will also develop the skills demanded in civil engineering consultancy offices around the world.
On the course, you will have the opportunity to use state-of-the-art laboratories and advanced technical software for numerical modelling.
The course is flexible and allows you to combine advanced civil engineering with related subjects including water environmental management, construction management and sustainable construction.
All of the taught modules are delivered by research-active staff and pave the way for a career at the forefront of ambitious civil engineering projects.
The course has an emphasis on practical applications of advanced civil engineering concepts. You will make use of our advanced laboratories, modern computer facilities and technical software.
The MSc requires successful completion of six modules together with a dissertation on an agreed technical subject; a dissertation is not required, however, for the PGDip.
The taught component of the course comprises six core modules, and you can either take all six of these modules or choose four with an additional two approved modules from other MSc courses in the School of Environment and Technology. You can use this flexibility to study related subjects including water and waste-water treatment technology, construction management and sustainable construction.
Core modules cover geotechnical earthquake engineering, dynamics of structures with earthquake engineering applications, seismic design of reinforced concrete members, random vibrations of structures, bridge loads and analysis, rock mechanics, hydrogeology, coastal engineering and wave loading.
Coastal Engineering and Wave Loading
This module provides a basic understanding of different wave theories and their applications in coastal engineering practice.
You will develop an understanding of the coastal sediment transport processes and the means to deal with issues associated with coastal protection and sea defence.
Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering
This module provides an understanding of advanced geotechnical design methods with an emphasis on seismic design. It focuses on current design methods for soil and rock structures and foundation systems subject to complex loading conditions.
You will gain experience in using a variety of commercial software.
Rock Mechanics
The module gives you an understanding of the behaviour of rocks and rock mass and enables you to evaluate the instability of rock slopes and tunnels in order to design reinforcements for unstable rock.
Dynamics of Structures with Earthquake Engineering Applications
You will be introduced to the fundamental concepts of dynamics of structures. The module then focuses on analytical and numerical methods used to model the response of civil engineering structures subjected to dynamic actions, including harmonic loading, blast and impact loading, and earthquake ground motion.
Random Vibration of Structures
The module gives you the confidence to model uncertainties involved in the design of structural systems alongside a framework to critically appraise probabilistic-based Eurocode approaches to design.
Stochastic models of earthquake ground motion, wind and wave loading are explored. Probabilistic analysis and design of structures is undertaken through pertinent random vibration theory.
You will become confident with the probabilistic analysis for the design against earthquake, wind and wave loadings through various checkable calculations.
Repair and Strengthening of Existing Reinforced Concrete Structures
The module gives you an understanding of the types and causes of damage to reinforced concrete structures. It then focuses on current techniques for repair and strengthening of existing structures.
The course is particularly appropriate for work in structural, geotechnical and coastal engineering.
Graduates have gone on into roles as structural engineers and civil engineers in a number of structural design offices around the world.
Others have been motivated by the research component of the course and followed a PhD programme after graduation.
The Water and Environmental Management MSc provides training in the core scientific, technical and interdisciplinary skills that are essential in water resource and environmental management fields. You will acquire specialist knowledge and develop key analytical and scientific skills, particularly in the context of national and international environmental legislation.
Learning from and working alongside our world-leading academic researchers, you will benefit from expertise covering a range of disciplines relating to water resources and environmental management.
Our Aquatic Research Centre provides excellent facilities for your studies, including specialist water chemistry and microbiology laboratories, laboratory-scale water and wastewater treatment systems, an experimental river basin, a water efficiency laboratory, as well as a large pool of aquatic field equipment and computing facilities.
You have the choice from a wide range of option modules in order to tailor the course to your interests and career aspirations. As part of this, there are opportunities for our students to conduct a placement with organisations involved in water resource and environmental management, including industrial members of the Green Growth Platform.
This degree is accredited by the Joint Board of Moderators as meeting the requirements for further learning for a chartered engineer (CEng) for candidates who have already acquired a partial CEng-accredited undergraduate first degree. It is also accredited by the Chartered Institute of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM).
You will study core modules and complete a dissertation. You will also choose option modules enabling you to specialise in the areas of the course that interest you the most.
As an MSc student, you will also undertake an individual dissertation project in an area of particular interest. Examples of subjects our students have completed their research project on include:
Water Resources Management
Assessment: 50% coursework, 50% exam
The module will be divided broadly into four distinct, but linked sections:
1. Introduction to the challenges of global and national water resource management;
2. Introduction to the fundamental hydrological processes (surface and subsurface) that influence water resource availability;
3. Introduction to the legal and policy framework of the water sector with a specific emphasis on Europe and the UK;
4. Introduction to potential future solutions to the challenges of global and national water
Water Treatment Technology
Assessment: 50% coursework, 50% exam
This module explores the links between drinking water characteristics and treatment plant design. It critically evaluates a variety of treatment technology options and suitable plans for treatment processes according to varying water characteristics and international drinking water quality standards.
It also investigates the principles governing disease control through sustainable water treatment technology in developing countries and explores the process of risk management through the application of Water Safety Plans.
Wastewater Treatment Technology
Assessment: 50% coursework, 50% exam
This module addresses the characteristics of wastewater and how variations in flow rate are dealt with. It explores wastewater treatment theory and practice, and the treatment and disposal of wastewater sludge.
It also considers both advanced wastewater treatment technologies and low-cost wastewater treatment and sanitation options for developing countries; it does so in the context of global and local societal and environmental needs.
Water Quality Analysis
Assessment: 100% coursework
This 20-credit module investigates the principles of safe and accurate environmental water sampling through a local field-based case study. It explores methods for the analysis of the physical, chemical and biological components of water quality and covers approaches to analysing complex data sets.
Option modules
Graduates are well equipped to apply for jobs with water companies, government agencies and regulatory bodies, environmental/civil engineering consultancies, and international non-governmental organisations. Graduates are also well equipped to secure PhD studentships to further their research ambitions.
The course is accredited by the Chartered Institute of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM).
This one-year MRes aims to provide advanced study in Integrated Pollution Prevention & Control within Europe and globally. You'll have access to laboratory facilities that provide hands-on experience essential for experimental analysis.
The course is ideal for you if you're looking for an alternative to an MSc, are interested in carrying out shorter research projects or if you wish to tailor your studies to suit your own research interests and career objectives.
An MRes takes one year full-time or two years part-time to complete. Part-time study is only available to UK students.
This degree combines a number of subjects, including:
You'll complete six taught classes. Four classes are compulsory and two are optional.
You can choose from a wide range of topics. Supervisors will be chosen from one of our three main research groups:
The department’s £6 million purpose-built and state-of-the-art research laboratories opened in June 2013. These facilities include:
You'll be taught by a group of professionally qualified staff with relevant expertise and teaching and research experience.
We've very strong industrial links. We've an active Industrial Advisory Board that contributes to curriculum design and the overall student experience.
This course is delivered via a mixture or lectures, tutorial, practical laboratories and research seminars.
You'll be assessed via a mixture of written assignments, formal exams, lab-based assessments, poster presentations and team projects.
The final MRes thesis is assessed orally in a viva voce exam.
An MRes will significantly enhance your CV and improve future employment prospects.
During your studies you'll develop a range of transferable skills that are relevant to careers in industry, academia and the public sector.
In addition, our MRes will develop your communication skills, critical analysis and presentation skills as well as giving you experience of conference attendance and working with large bodies of complex material. An MRes can also be used as a stepping stone for students wishing to continue to an MPhil or PhD, either as a precursor or initial component of the research.
We've very strong industrial links and an active Industrial Advisory Board which contributes to curriculum design and the overall student experience.
This one-year research-led MRes in geo-environmental engineering is suitable if you're looking for an alternative to an MSc or are interested in carrying out shorter research projects and wish to tailor your studies to suit your own research interests and career objectives. The MRes is suitable for students interested in Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS).
An MRes takes one year full-time or two years part-time to complete. Part-time study is only available to UK students.
This degree combines a number of subjects including:
You'll complete six taught modules. Four classes are compulsory and you then choose two optional.
You can choose from a wide range of topics. Supervisors will be chosen from one of our seven main research groups:
Our department’s £6M purpose-built and state-of-the-art research laboratories opened in June 2013. These facilities include:
The course is unique in Scotland and the UK, as you'll be taught by a group of professionally qualified civil engineers, chemists, microbiologists and geoscientists.
This course is delivered via a mixture or lectures, tutorial, practical laboratories and research seminars.
You'll be assessed via a mixture of written assignments, formal examinations, lab-based assessments, poster presentations and team projects.
The final MRes thesis is assessed orally in a viva voce examination.
An MRes will significantly enhance your CV and improve future employment prospects.
During your studies you'll develop a range of transferable skills that are relevant to careers in industry, academia and the public sector.
In addition, our MRes will develop your communication skills, critical analysis and presentation skills as well as giving you experience of conference attendance and working with large bodies of complex material. An MRes can also be used as a stepping stone for students wishing to continue to an MPhil or PhD, either as a precursor or initial component of the research.
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.
The civil engineers of the future will have to find innovative solutions to environmental challenges. We believe graduates from our MSc will be at the forefront of the new generation.
The core modules give you a grounding in engineering analysis and design. In the second semester, you can follow your interests and choose from a list of specialist modules.
We are one of the largest and most active civil engineering departments in the UK. All our masters courses are informed by our own world-leading research and industry needs. The 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF) puts us in the UK top four.
Our structures-based courses are accredited by The Institution of Civil Engineers, Institution of Structural Engineers, Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation, and Institute of Highway Engineers as satisfying part 2 academic base requirements for a Chartered Engineer under UK-SPEC.
Our graduates work for top UK and international consultancies, contractors, regulators, universities and other private and public sector organisations.
Many of them join engineering consultancies, in roles such as Structural Engineer, Building Services Engineer and Sustainability Consultant. Some join architecture practices. Employers include Arup, Buro Happold, Capita Symonds, Roger Preston and Partners, Cundall and Foster and Partners.
These vary but can include:
Lectures, design tutorials, computational tutorials, lab work and industrial seminars.
All courses use lectures by academic staff and industrial partners, laboratory work, site visits, design projects and dissertation.
Assessment is by formal examinations, coursework assignments and a dissertation with oral examination.
Your research dissertation gives you the opportunity to work with an academic on a piece of research in a subdiscipline. We’ll give you training in research skills.
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