Department of Earth Sciences
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 Department of Earth Sciences

News & Events

Tuesday 24 November 2009

Prof. Roderick Brown, Dept. Geographical and Earth Sciences, University of Glasgow

12:00pm, Department of Earth Sciences, TR3

Uplifting Africa: why is it so high, and how and when did it get up there?

Contact ed.llewellin@durham.ac.uk for more information about this event.


Friday 27 November 2009

Mark Allen and Howard Armstrong

1:00pm to 2:00pm, TR3

Shifts in the Inter-tropical Convergence Zone, Himalayan exhumation and late Cenozoic climate – Did the Himalayas cause the monsoon or the monsoon the Himalayas?

Contact jeroen.van--hunen@durham.ac.uk for more information about this event.


We are a leading Earth Science Department with researchers and teachers of the highest international calibre. Driven by strategic planning within the Department, our expansion has already resulted in increased success of applications for competitive funding, the international recognition of staff, and the establishment of forefront research facilities. The Department is undergoing a period of planned and sustained growth, with recent appointments made as part of a major programme of strategic investment by the University that includes a recent move into a new, state-of-the-art building with bespoke research and teaching facilities. We now have 30 academic staff in the Department, an increase of more than 60% since 2000.

RAE08 - Department of Earth Sciences

The Department of Earth Sciences at Durham University participated in RAE08 and received detailed feedback in January 2009. 90% of all of the research submitted by staff across Durham University was assessed as being at least of International Quality (2* and above) in terms of originality, significance and rigour. Of the research assessed from Earth Sciences, 95% is at least internationally recognised, with 70% at least internationally excellent (3* and above) and 15% world leading, agenda-setting (4*). Out of 42 institutions submitting to the Earth & Environmental Sciences unit of assessment, only 6 ranked higher using the (3* + 4*) criteria.

Further details

Major research units in the Department include: the Northern Centre for Isotopic and Elemental Tracing (NCIET); the Centre for Research in Earth Energy Systems (CeREES) and (TeLSR) Terrestrial Laser Scanning . The Department co-hosts the UK Ocean-Bottom Instrumentation Consortium (OBIC) and is a key collaborator in the University-wide Institute for Hazard and Risk Research (IHRR). We are co-located with the University e-Sciences Institute and utilize its 3D visualization facilities for research purposes.


We welcome enquiries from anyone interested in Earth Sciences at any level, be it from an undergraduate, postgraduate or research, perspective. Please do not hesitate to contact us.


Contact Details

Department of Earth Sciences,
Durham University,
Science Labs,
Durham DH1 3LE
Tel: +44 0191 3342300
Fax: +44 0191 3342301
E-mail: earth.sciences @durham.ac.uk