Graduate

The Department of Earth Sciences at Dartmouth College supports graduate students in a wide variety of research fields, including, but not limited to, Earth Surface and Environmental Processes, Climate and Cryospheric Sciences, Earth and Planetary History.

Degree Programs

We recruit students at both the MSc and PhD levels. The MSc degree is intended to train students for professional careers in the Earth and Planetary Sciences, or as preparation for further graduate study. The PhD is conferred upon candidates who have demonstrated scholarship and expertise in their chosen specialty, and who have conducted novel and extensive independent research. To this end, the doctoral program is designed to develop the skills and perspectives needed to conduct, interpret, present, and publish original research in the Earth and Planetary Sciences.
 
We require our graduate students to obtain a broad background in Earth Sciences. Successful applicants to the program have a strong general scientific background in basic physics, chemistry, and mathematics, and, ideally, a demonstrated aptitude for thinking analytically and solving quantitative problems. Students admitted to our graduate program with deficiencies in these areas will be required to take additional course work. The detailed requirements of each degree are listed in the ORC and summarized here. Students wishing to learn more should contact department and/or adjunct faculty members with overlapping research interests.
 
Students completing a graduate degree in Earth Sciences are expected to:
 
1. Demonstrate knowledge of fundamental concepts in the Earth Sciences, including advanced principles of one or more of the following subdisciplines: Earth Surface and Environmental Processes, Climate and Cryospheric Sciences, Earth and Planetary History.
 
2. Use appropriate field, laboratory, and computational methods to propose, design, and perform independent and original research that advances a chosen discipline.
 
3. Communicate, in both written and oral form, research questions and results to the scientific community, as well as a thorough understanding of the broader impacts and wider implications of Earth Science research to the general public.

4. Write and successfully defend an MSc or PhD thesis.