Undergraduate Program in Earth and Space Sciences
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Click here for the Program at a glance
The interdisciplinary study course in Earth and Space Sciences is in its form unique in Germany. It resembles a number of courses in Earth and Planetary Sciences offered in the US and encompasses the subjects Earth Sciences, Marine Sciences, Environmental Sciences and Space Sciences including Astrophysics and Astrobiology.
Earth and Space Sciences bridges the gap between terrestrial and extraterrestrial environments. This includes topics such as the management of our natural resources, e.g. fossil fuel and water, the study of the Earth's climate and her oceans, the link between Sun and Earth, as well as the origin of our planet.
In their first three semesters of study, our students get a solid education in the various disciplines of Earth and Space Sciences. Specialization starts already in the fourth semester. We currently offer the following Specialization Areas:
What is common to these very diverse topics are two fundamental insights:
First, all these questions require a solid foundation in more than one natural science. They are profoundly interdisciplinary, and this is true for a growing number of scientific questions. For example, the investigation of the Earth's climate requires a good knowledge of subjects as diverse as geology, chemistry, oceanography, solar physics, fluid mechanics, and thermodynamics.
Second, there is a close similarity between the methods that are used in the geosciences as well as in space and astrophysics. All four core disciplines deal with complex natural systems which can be studied using in situ measurements and remote sensing techniques. E.g., the depths of the oceans and near-Earth space are explored with unmanned probes, and astrophysical objects as well as large-scale geological features can be studied using remote sensing instruments like telescopes and Earth observation satellites.
