Skip navigation Skip to main navigation for this site Skip to navigation for this section

  • Geology (PhD / MPhil)
  • 2013/2014 entry
  • Contact us
  • Duration
      • Three years part-time or two years full-time (minimum periods).
  • Entry requirements
  • Fees
    • Fees (2013/2014)
      • Part-time (home/EU students): £2050 pa
      • Part-time (overseas students): £5825 pa
      • Full-time (home/EU students): £3840 pa
      • Full-time (overseas students): £11,475 pa
  • Funding

    • Natural Environment Research Council studentships for full-time PhD study are advertised on our website if and when they become available. A limited number of College Research Studentships (fees-only) are available by competition. The minimum qualification for full-time studentships is a second-class honours first degree or an MSc. The closing application date for those wishing to be considered for studentships is March, but you are encouraged to apply as early as possible after studentships are advertised in October–November.

      Find out more about funding for PhD study.

Geology (PhD / MPhil) - 2013/2014 entry


  • Overview
    • Our key research interests include igneous petrology and geochemistry, sedimentology, environmental geochemistry and mineralogy, stratigraphy and palaeontology, structural geology, geophysics, palaeoclimatology, planetary geology, and earthquake studies.
  • Research resources

    • The PhD/MPhil programme provides an excellent forum for students to develop and enhance their specialist, as well as more general transferable, research skills. The programme allows you to gain insight into different research methods and to acquire valuable experience both in carrying out large-scale research projects and in teaching.

      The Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Birkbeck has close links to the Department of Earth Sciences at University College London (UCL). Together, they form the UCL–Birkbeck Research School of Earth Sciences, facilitating access to a wide range of research resources and expertise. Well-established links with other London colleges and the Natural History Museum provide ready access to further facilities in the capital.

      In addition to standard equipment such as EMP, SEM and XRD and generous networked computing facilities, the department has specialist laboratories and operates a worldwide fieldwork programme. Facilities such as the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) isotope geoscience laboratory at the British Geological Survey in Keyworth, ICP-MS facility at Kingston University and ICP-AES facility at Royal Holloway are also potentially available to research students. In the past, some research students have gone abroad to such places as Utrecht and Vienna to use specialist analytical facilities.

      As a research student, you will benefit from a vigorous programme of formal and informal research seminars, and close attention to research supervision. As well as working on your research project, you will also be encouraged to participate in a general training programme of lectures, workshops and seminars designed to provide methodological and theoretical frameworks for your research and structured according to Research Council guidelines. You will also be encouraged to attend lectures within the MRes programme and will have access to the Bloomsbury postgraduate skills network.

  • Further information

    • Annual presentation of work

      All research students in the Research School are required to make one presentation about their work in each academic year, in order to help them develop their presentation skills.

      • First-year presentation: short presentations (10–15 minutes each) in December or January by all new research students aimed at introducing the student and their project to other members of the Research School.
      • Second-year presentation: a poster display outlining the progress made on the research project; held in March as part of the UCL Graduate School competition, with prizes for the best posters.
      • Third-year presentation: a 20-minute lecture in the summer term as part of the research seminar series.

      If you are a part-time student, you should take part in these presentations at the appropriate time within your study (for example, if you are working half-time on your project, you should do your first-year presentation in the second year of your part-time studies).

  • Application information
    • What to do before you apply
      In order to ensure that we have an appropriate supervisor for your research, please contact our course team and discuss it with them before you submit your application.
    • Finding a supervisor
    • Your research topic
      The earth sciences cover a broad spectrum of research topics. You may be interested in studying the evolution of life through the millennia, working with the fossil record to chart the development and extinction of species; perhaps you want to study the dynamics involved in geohazards such as earthquakes and volcanoes; maybe you want to reconstruct ancient environments with an eye to addressing key environmental issues of our time, such as climate change and coastal erosion.

      Examples of research topics include:

      • igneous petrology and geochemistry
      • petrology and mineralogy of mantle and lower crustal xenoliths
      • geochemistry of peridotite massifs
      • palaeontology
      • echinoderm palaeoecology in Middle Jurassic marginal marine settings
      • the effect of the end Cenomanian extinction event on high marine predator communities
      • designing tidal creeks for managed coastal defence
      • ground-penetrating radar applications in sedimentology
      • palaeoclimate controls on the formation of coastal dunes
      • sedimentary controls on the distribution of arsenic in the Ganges Brahmaputra Delta
      • the evolution of coastal dunes in response to Holocene climate change
      • studies of displacement and strain along active normal fault zones in Italy and Greece.
    • Application deadlines and interviews
      • You can apply at any time during the year.
      • You can normally start your MPhil/PhD study in our department in October, January or April.
    • Online application
      You can apply online from the link below.