Earth and Life Evolution (ELE)
The evolution of the geosphere and that of the biosphere – linked by a common theme: the processes and the unique history that have produced our life-sustaining planet.
Information: Prof. Walter Joyce (Fribourg), Prof. Suzette Timmerman (Bern)
The Master Specialization in Earth and Life Evolution explores two complementary aspects of Earth Sciences – the evolution of the geosphere and that of the biosphere – linked by a common theme: the processes and the unique history that have produced our life-sustaining planet. It is a curriculum dominated by curiosity-driven pure science, based on the subdisciplines of paleontology, sedimentology, stratigraphy and geochemistry. Owing to the diversity of the underlying scientific approaches and techniques, a broad-based training is an essential feature of this Specialization. It requires that the students already have – or are prepared to acquire – sound basic knowledge in Earth history, palaeontology, and (isotope)-geochemistry. During the Master studies, students may choose specific areas in which increased expertise can be gained.
The breadth of the training acquired in this Specialization leads to a correspondingly wide choice of later professional opportunities in academia (PhD studies and advanced careers at universities, research institutions, museums, space agencies) as well as in applied Earth Sciences (resource management, scientific journalism), in Switzerland and abroad. Graduates are especially prepared to work in interdisciplinary projects involving both Earth and biological sciences (e.g., biogeochemistry, astrobiology).
This Specialization aims at equipping graduates with a combination of different skills: understanding of the interaction between chemical, physical, and biological factors that have shaped and still shape the face of our world; expertise in state-of-the-art field and laboratory methods; analysis and interpretation of environmental changes at various timescales; understanding the factors that led to mass extinctions; definition of relative and absolute ages in Earth history; integrating scientific information into sound geological models; ability to formulate and execute a research project; communication of data and results in a professional manner, both in written and oral form; cooperation in national and international research projects.
Each student writes a research thesis on a topic related to on-going investigations at the Universities of Fribourg or Bern. The project may involve any combination of field, laboratory and/or computational work. The thesis work is conducted over the entire period of the MSc curriculum, parallel with coursework, thereby allowing time for in-depth understanding of the research problems and methods.
One or more supervisors are drawn from the team of lecturers or from partner institutions. The thesis work terminates with a manuscript written according to international standards and an oral presentation at the end of the fourth semester. The MSc thesis may be written in English, French or German.
Master students have access to a wide range of analytical facilities at the host institutes, including petrographic microscopy, grain-size analysis, micropalaeontological preparation, cathodo-luminescence, scanning-electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, electron microprobe, laser-Raman spectroscopy, laser-ablation-ICP-MS, fluid inclusion microthermometry, wet-chemical laboratories with ICP-OES and ion-chromatography, mass-spectrometers for stable isotopes of C, O, H, He, Ca, Mo, and for radiogenic isotopes of the K-Ar, Rb-Sr, Nd-Sm, and U-Pb systems. Computational facilities include computer clusters for numerical modeling and GIS applications.
Access is also offered to museum collections (mineralogy, palaeontology, petrography, meteorites) and to ongoing scientific excavations (e.g., Paleojura team project).
Prospective students for the Specialization in Earth and Life Evolution should contact one of the following professors for further information:
Prof. Walter Joyce (Fribourg), Prof. Suzette Timmerman (Bern)