Courses
The courses below are 7,5 EC (unless indicated otherwise). The period (1/2/3/4) and time slot (A/B/C/D) are stated in parentheses per course, see schedules You take 15 EC per period from different timeslots. You have to register for courses yourself.
Year 1
Earth Surface and Water offers you a choice of four study paths. To start, you choose one these. You then design your plan following the rules of your selected study path. You will find an instruction on how to design your plan for the first year at the courses of the paths of your choice. You are allowed to take courses from outside of Earth Sciences, but if you do so you must earn at least 45 EC inside of your study path and you need approval of the Board of Examiners.
Year 2
In your second year you must carry out a final research project. Your research will culminate in a Master's thesis (30-45 EC), on which you will also give an oral presentation. In addition, you also have to do a guided research (7,5-30 EC) and/or internship (15-30 EC). This means you will write at least two and maybe three academic papers: your thesis and a report on the guided research project and/or a report on your internship.
Environmental Geochemistry focuses on the processes that control the functioning of natural environments at the Earth’s surface. These environments are linked by the hydrological cycle, and their chemistry is strongly influenced by biological activity. They are increasingly perturbed by human activity on local, regional and global scales. To be able to predict the consequences of that activity for Earth’s surface environments and to maintain and improve their quality, we need a scientific understanding of how biology, geochemistry, and hydrodynamics interact in these systems. This study path will train you to be a geochemist.
Earth Surface and Water
Choose at least one course (7,5 EC):
- GEO4-4412 Statistics and Data Analysis in Physical Geography (1C)
- GEO4-1434 Principles of Groundwater Flow (1D)
- GEO4-4433 Advanced GIS for Geoscientists (1D)
Research Instruction Earth Surface and Water
Choose at least one course (7,5 EC):
- GEO4-1431 Field Research Instruction Geochemistry (4-)
- GEO4-1432 Environmental Hydrogeology (4-)
- GEO4-4418 Master Excursion Earth Surface and Water (4-)
- GEO4-4423 Climate Change. Hydrology and the Cryosphere (4-)
Plus seminars and career development activities
Environmental geochemistry
Choose four courses (30 EC):
- GEO4-1439 Aquatic and Environmental Geochemistry (1C)
- GEO4-6001 Quantitative Water Management (2A)
- GEO4-1443 Stable isotopes in Earth Sciences (2B)
- GEO4-1433 Hydrogeological Transport Phenomena (2D)
- GEO4-1421 Reactive Transport in the Hydrosphere (3D)
Electives
You can choose a maximum of two courses (15 EC) from the elective courses Earth Sciences (below) to achieve a total of eight courses (60 EC) in your first year.
The study of hydrological processes near or on the Earth’s surface, such as the flow of fluids and transport of mass and energy in the subsurface. Hydrology focuses on the flow of water, nutrients and energy between the Earth’s surface and the subsoil and between the Earth’s surface and the atmosphere. It aims to quantify how rainfall is portioned into infiltration, evaporation and runoff, and how nutrients in the soil and the Earth’s surface are distributed across the landscape through surface runoff and groundwater flow. It also aims to provide a quantitative description of various processes affecting the movement of fluids and the spread of substances and thermal energy in soil and groundwater. This study path will train you to be a hydrologist.
Earth Surface and Water
Choose at least one course (7,5 EC):
- GEO4-4412 Statistics and Data Analysis in Physical Geography (1C)
- GEO4-1434 Principles of Groundwater Flow (1D)
- GEO4-4433 Advanced GIS for Geoscientists (1D)
Research Instruction Earth Surface and Water
Choose at least one course (7,5 EC):
- GEO4-1431 Field Research Instruction Geochemistry (4-)
- GEO4-1432 Environmental Hydrogeology (4-)
- GEO4-4418 Master Excursion Earth Surface and Water (4-)
- GEO4-4423 Climate Change. Hydrology and the Cryosphere (4-)
Plus seminars and career development activities
Hydrology
Choose four courses (30 EC):
- GEO4-4417 Unsaturated Zone Hydrology (2C)
- GEO4-1433 Hydrogeological Transport Phenomena (2D)
- GEO4-4404 Land Surface Hydrology (1B)
- GEO4-1421 Reactive Transport in the Hydrosphere (3C)
- GEO4-4406 Land surface process modelling (3A)
Electives
You can choose a maximum of two courses (15 EC) from the elective courses Earth Sciences (below) to achieve a total of eight courses (60 EC) in your first year.
The study of processes and phenomena that determine the morphodynamic behaviour of coastal and river systems and their interface. The focus can be on coasts or rivers, or both. This study path will train you to be a physical geographer or a specialist morphodynamics.
Earth Surface and Water
Choose at least one course (7,5 EC):
- GEO4-4412 Statistics and Data Analysis in Physical Geography (1C)
- GEO4-1434 Principles of Groundwater Flow (1D)
- GEO4-4433 Advanced GIS for Geoscientists (1D)
Research Instruction Earth Surface and Water
Choose at least one course (7,5 EC):
- GEO4-1431 Field Research Instruction Geochemistry (4-)
- GEO4-1432 Environmental Hydrogeology (4-)
- GEO4-4418 Master Excursion Earth Surface and Water (4-)
- GEO4-4423 Climate Change, Hydrology and the Cryosphere (4-)
Plus seminars and career development activities
Coastal Dynamics and Fluvial Systems
Choose four courses (30 EC):
- GEO4-4436 River and Delta Systems (1A)
- GEO4-4435 Morphodynamics of Tidal Systems (2A)
- GEO4-4434 Morphodynamics of Wave-dominated Coasts (3A)
- GEO4-4403 Coastal zone and river management (3B)
- GEO4-4409 Reconstructing Quaternary Environments (3C)
Electives
You can choose a maximum of two courses (15 EC) from the elective courses Earth Sciences (below) to achieve a total of eight courses (60 EC) in your first year.
The study of physical processes and phenomena in and on the Earth’s surface, as a required basisfor research into soil erosion, flash flooding, mass movement (slides and flows), land-use changes and land-cover deterioration. The focus is on applications of hydrology and geostatistics using spatio-temporal, GIS-based models. This study path will train you to be a physical geographer or a pecialist geohazards / remote sensing.
Earth Surface and Water
Choose at least one course (7,5 EC):
- GEO4-4412 Statistics and Data Analysis in Physical Geography (1C)
- GEO4-1434 Principles of Groundwater Flow (1D)
- GEO4-4433 Advanced GIS for Geoscientists (1D)
Research Instruction Earth Surface and Water
Choose at least one course 7,5 EC):
- GEO4-1431 Field Research Instruction Geochemistry (4-)
- GEO4-1432 Environmental Hydrogeology (4-)
- GEO4-4418 Master Excursion Earth Surface and Water (4-)
- GEO4-4423 Climate Change, Hydrology and the Cryosphere (4-)
Plus seminars and career development activities
Geohazards and earth observation
Choose four courses (30 EC):
- GEO4-4404 Land Surface Hydrology (1B)
- GEO4-4408 Remote Sensing (2D)
- GEO4-4417 Unsaturated Zone Hydrology (2C)
- GEO4-4406 Land Surface Process Modelling (3A)
- GEO4-4425 Hazards and Risk Assessment (3D)
Electives
You can choose a maximum of two courses (15 EC) from the elective courses Earth Sciences (below) to achieve a total of eight courses (60 EC) in your first year.
- GEO4-1505 Integrated Subsurface Evaluation (1-)
- GEO4-1401 Structure and Composition of the Earth’s Interior (1A)
- GEO4-1440 Microbes and Biogeochemistry (1A)
- GEO4-4436 River and Delta Systems (1A)
- GEO4-1435 Advanced petrology: from microscopic properties to geological processes (1A)
- GEO4-1415 Data Processing and Inverse Theory (1B)
- GEO4-1405 Paleoceanography & Climate Variability (1B)
- GEO4-4404 Land Surface Hydrology (1B)
- GEO4-1403 Petrological and Geochemical Evolution of the Earth (1C)
- GEO4-1439 Aquatic and Environmental Geochemistry (1C)
- GEO4-4412 Statistics and Data Analysis Physical Geography (1C)
- GEO4-1434 Principles of Groundwater Flow (1D)
- GEO4-1441 Reflection Seismics & Georesources (1D) (lectures also partly given in Amsterdam)
- GEO4-1442 Modelling of Crust and Lithosphere Deformation (1D)
- GEO4-4433 Advanced GIS for Geoscientists (1D)
- GEO4-1408 Theoretical Seismology (2A)
- GEO4-1412 Astronomical Climate Forcing & Time Scales (2A)
- GEO4-4435 Morphodynamics of Tidal System (2A)
- GEO4-6001 Quantitative Water Management (2A)
- GEO4-1409 Tectonophysics (2B)
- GEO4-1411 Structural Analysis of Deformed Rocks (2C)
- GEO4-1514B Vertebrate Evolution (Tetrapods) (2C)
- GEO4-1517A Applied stratigraphy and subsurface basin analysis (2C)
- GEO4-4417 Unsaturated Zone Hydrology (2C)
- GEO4-1418 Dynamics of Basins & Orogens (2D)
- GEO4-1433 Hydrogeological Transport Phenomena (2D)
- GEO4-4408 Remote Sensing
- GEO4-1417 Advanced mineralogy: minerals as materials (3A)
- GEO4-1438 Paleomagnetism (3A)
- GEO4-4434 Morphodynamics of Wave-Dominated Coasts (3A)
- GEO4-4406 Land Surface Process Modelling (3A)
- GEO4-1416 Dynamics of the Earth’s Mantle (3B)
- GEO4-1422 Reconstructing Extreme Climate Transitions (3B)
- GEO4-1425 Earth Mineral Resources (3B)
- GEO4-4403 Coastal zone and river management (3B)
- GEO4-4420 Stochastic Hydrology (3C)
- GEO4-4409 Reconstructing the Quaternary Environment (3C)
- GEO4-4425 Hazards and Risk Assessment (3D)
- GEO4-1421 Reactive Transport in the Hydrosphere (3D)
- GEO4-1410 Mechanisms of Deformation & Transport in Rocks (3D)
- GEO4-1419 Dynamics of Sedimentary Systems (3D)
- GEO4-1424a Applied Geophysics (4A)
- GEO4-1427 Computational Geophysics (4D)
- GEO4-1437 Geothermal and unconventional GEO-resources (4-)
- GEO4-1420 Organic Geochemistry (4-)
- GEO4-1430 Field Research Instruction Geology (4-)
- GEO4-1431 Field Research Instruction Geochemistry (4-)
- GEO4-1432 Environmental Hydrogeology (4-)
- GEO4-4423 Climate Change, Hydrology and the Cryosphere (4-)
- GEO4-4418 MSc Excursion (4-)
- GEO4-1520 Master's Thesis (30-45 EC) (--) AND
- GEO4-1500 Internship (15-30 EC) (--) AND/OR
- GEO4-1521 Guided Research (7,5-30 EC) (--)
Please note! If you started your programme before 2016 and you still have one or more first year courses to complete then you must use the Study Guide from your starting year as your point of reference.