The objective of the Ph.D. program is to provide the supervision, intellectual environment and resources to permit an aspiring scientist to develop and complete a thesis, involving a significant addition to knowledge, on a specific project in Geology or Geophysics, or in a collaborative project involving one or more related disciplines. The scope of these research projects represents an enormous range of interests, from purely 'academic' to strongly 'applied' industrial and environmental topics. Current graduate degrees include:
Graduate students are encouraged to develop a passing knowledge of fields peripheral to their thesis topics by regular attendance at the weekly departmental colloquia, M.Sc. and Ph.D. defence lectures of fellow students, and through participation in the graduate seminar course and informal brownbag seminars.
The foregoing course requirements can be found here. Courses are designed to supplement and broaden the student's knowledge base, however, a thesis based on original research, forms the most important part of both the M.Sc. and Ph.D. programs.
Ph.D. students must pass an oral Qualifying Examination no later than 18 months after starting in the program.
Ph.D. students must be resident in the Department as a full-time student for two full years.
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