Handbook home
Earth Sciences
Bachelor of Science (Degree with Honours)Informal specialisationYear: 2024
Earth Sciences
Contact information
Coordinator
Dr Josephine Brown
School of Earth Sciences
Email: josephine.brown@unimelb.edu.au
Overview
Honours in Earth Sciences is a one-year program designed to extend students' knowledge and skills through a supervised research project together with advanced coursework in earth sciences.
Admission requirements
In addition to satisfying the Bachelor of Science (Degree with Honours) entry requirements, students are required to have completed stream specific prerequisites. Details of stream specific prerequisites can be found at the Bachelor of Science (Degree with Honours) entry and participation requirements page.
Honours in Earth Sciences is available as start of year intake and mid year intake, and is dependent on the availability and agreement of an appropriate thesis supervisor.
Intended learning outcomes
On completion of this Honours program, students should be able to demonstrate:
Knowledge
- Advanced knowledge of the major concepts, theoretical perspectives, empirical findings, and historical trends in core discipline areas in Earth Sciences
- Advanced knowledge of the range of research methods employed in Earth Sciences, including how to evaluate and interpret the results of such methods
- Understanding of the ethical basis of research, including knowledge of scientific citation practice and plagiarism issues
- An understanding of the relationship between progress in scientific research and its potential impact on the wider community, with a focus on understanding how research might be employed to solve problems facing the community.
Skills
- Advanced scientific reasoning, problem-solving, and research skills to critically analyse existing knowledge of a research topic, design and execute a clearly articulated and theoretically motivated individual research project, analyse data utilising appropriate research methods, and interpret results coherently to determine their implications
- Effective scientific communication skills to articulate cogent scientific explanations of concepts in Earth Sciences, theories and research findings, and communicate these ideas effectively to various audiences in both written and oral formats
- Critical review skills: based on knowledge of the discipline, an ability to evaluate and critically review recent research findings, and place them in the context of previous research.
Application of Knowledge and Skills
- Laboratory and/or computing skills that are at a level sufficient to enable the creation of new research results
- Research skills: Design and execute an individual research project to address a research question relevant to the discipline of Earth Sciences
- The ability to work effectively with people from diverse cultures and backgrounds, with particular emphasis on working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Last updated: 29 January 2025
Structure
100 credit points
Research
Students must complete 75 points of research.
Coursework
Students must complete 25 points of coursework.
Subject Options
Research component
Students enrol in a total of 75 points of research project across the duration of the Honours program. This is achieved by enrolling in two of the following subject across two consecutive semesters to achieve a total 75 credit points. Students enrol in a Part 1 subject in the first semester and a Part 2 subject in the second semester.
Code | Name | Study period | Credit Points |
---|---|---|---|
ERTH40007 | Earth Sciences Research Project Pt1 |
Semester 1 (Extended) (On Campus - Parkville)
Semester 2 (Extended) (On Campus - Parkville)
|
25 |
ERTH40008 | Earth Sciences Research Project Pt1 |
Semester 1 (Extended) (On Campus - Parkville)
Semester 2 (Extended) (On Campus - Parkville)
|
37.5 |
ERTH40009 | Earth Sciences Research Project Pt1 |
Semester 1 (Extended) (On Campus - Parkville)
Semester 2 (Extended) (On Campus - Parkville)
|
50 |
ERTH40010 | Earth Sciences Research Project Pt2 |
Semester 1 (Early-Start) (On Campus - Parkville)
Semester 2 (Early-Start) (On Campus - Parkville)
|
25 |
ERTH40011 | Earth Sciences Research Project Pt2 |
Semester 1 (Early-Start) (On Campus - Parkville)
Semester 2 (Early-Start) (On Campus - Parkville)
|
37.5 |
ERTH40012 | Earth Sciences Research Project Pt2 |
Semester 1 (Early-Start) (On Campus - Parkville)
Semester 2 (Early-Start) (On Campus - Parkville)
|
50 |
Coursework component
Students select 25 points of coursework from the following subjects
Code | Name | Study period | Credit Points |
---|---|---|---|
ATOC90002 | Climate Science for Decision-Making | Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville) |
12.5 |
ATOC90004 | Current Topics in Climate Science | Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville) |
12.5 |
ATOC90005 | Atmosphere Ocean Interaction and Climate | Not available in 2024 | 12.5 |
ATOC90007 | Mesoscale Atmospheric Dynamics | Not available in 2024 | 12.5 |
ATOC90010 | Statistics in Climate Dynamics | Not available in 2024 | 12.5 |
ATOC90011 | Convective Clouds and Storms | August (On Campus - Parkville) |
12.5 |
ATOC90012 | Advanced Dynamical Meteorology | Not available in 2024 | 12.5 |
ATOC90013 | Atmospheric Modelling | Not available in 2024 | 12.5 |
ATOC90014 | General Circulation of the Atmosphere | Semester 1 (Off Campus) |
12.5 |
ATOC90015 | Data Assimilation and Model Improvement | February (On Campus - Parkville) |
12.5 |
ATOC90016 | Weather and Climate Extremes | Not available in 2024 | 12.5 |
ATOC90017 | Advanced Past Climates | Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville) |
12.5 |
COMP90059 | Introduction to Programming |
Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville)
Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville)
|
12.5 |
ERTH90026 | Climate Modelling and Climate Change | Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville) |
12.5 |
ERTH90029 | Environmental Geochemistry | Not available in 2024 | 6.25 |
Code | Name | Study period | Credit Points |
---|---|---|---|
ERTH90032 | Interpretation of Satellite Images | No longer available | |
ERTH90033 | Geology from Geophysics | Summer Term (Off Campus) |
6.25 |
GEOL90005 | Hydrogeology/Environmental Geochemistry | February (On Campus - Parkville) |
12.5 |
GEOL90027 | Advanced Structural Mapping | March (Off Campus) |
6.25 |
GEOL90028 | Geochronology and Thermochronology | May (On Campus - Parkville) |
6.25 |
GEOL90030 | Coastal Environmental Geomorphology | Not available in 2024 | 6.25 |
GEOL90031 | Ore Reserve Estimation | March (Off Campus) |
6.25 |
GEOL90032 | Introduction to Mineralogy | October (On Campus - Parkville) |
6.25 |
GEOL90033 | Mine Safety and Engineering | Semester 2 (Off Campus) |
6.25 |
GEOL90034 | Practical Igneous Petrology | Not available in 2024 | 6.25 |
GEOL90043 | Fundamentals of Geological CO2 Storage | Not available in 2024 | 6.25 |
GEOL90044 | Ore Deposit Models | Not available in 2024 | 6.25 |
GEOL90045 | Exploration Field Skills | Summer Term (Off Campus) |
6.25 |
GEOL90046 | Environmental Geology Field Techniques | September (Off Campus) |
6.25 |
GEOL90047 | Basin Evolution & Sequence Stratigraphy | No longer available | |
GEOM90044 | Geographic Information Systems | Summer Term (Off Campus) |
6.25 |
ERTH90034 | Advanced Hydrogeology | Not available in 2024 | 6.25 |
GEOL90048 | Sedimentary Basins and Resource Analysis | August (On Campus - Parkville) |
12.5 |
GEOL90050 | Field Geology of New Zealand | Not available in 2024 | 12.5 |
GEOG90052 | Riverine Landscapes: Hydrology & Ecology | Not available in 2024 | 12.5 |
Last updated: 29 January 2025