Undergraduate

The Complete University Guide has ranked Durham University's Department of Earth Sciences 4th best in the country.
http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/

The thing that attracted me to Earth Sciences was the way that it involves using all the sciences to explore the Earth and how it works. The scope of Earth Sciences is also very challenging: within the same day you could find yourself questioning the origins of life and looking at volcanoes.
Durham seemed the obvious place after paying a visit. I stayed overnight to experience a good sample of college life and visited the department which turned out to be really friendly with excellent facilities and staff.
Lisa Worrell, Collingwood College

Why Earth Sciences?

Are you interested in:

How the Earth formed?

How evolution works?
What climate change may mean for the world?
and do you want a degree that will allow you to continue your interests in all the Sciences?

If so you will be interested in the study of Earth Sciences. You need to take a multi-disciplinary approach to tackle many of the problems you will encounter in studying Earth Sciences. You will be using Mathematics, Physics, Biology, Chemistry and Computer Science, so that when you finish your degree in Earth Sciences, you will have a broad scientific understanding and the skills that employers require. Perhaps this explains why employers are so enthusiastic about our graduates and why our graduates are highly sought after by regional, national and international employers.

Durham Cathedral by the River Wear

Why Durham?

Durham is an ideal setting for your University education. Located on a picturesque part of the River Wear, you will be studying and living in one of Britain's favourite cities. Durham Cathedral was recently voted Britain’s most loved building, and was one of the first, world heritage sites. The city is well situated with regard to transport, being on the east coast mainline and located midway between Newcastle International Airport and Durham Tees Valley Airport. It is also within 15 minutes of Newcastle by train.

Being located in the North of England also means that you are close to some of the most spectacular scenery in the UK - the Northumberland coastline, Northern Pennines (designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1988 and the first area in Britain to be awarded the status of 'European Geopark'), North Yorkshire Moors, and the Lake District. You will visit all of these areas as part of your Earth Sciences degree, because they are also important areas of geology.

What's Durham like as a place?

Find out more about Durham City and the surrounding area by watching the following video clip:

Durham City

Take a tour around the beautiful and historic city of Durham.

Teaching & Learning

The department was awarded the highest grade for teaching "excellent" in the last government survey, and a number of our staff have received University awards for Excellence in Teaching

Contact Information

Dr Chris Greenwell is the Undergraduate Admissions Tutor.

Dr Chris Greenwell
Undergraduate Admissions Tutor
Department of Earth Sciences
Sciences Laboratories
Durham University
Durham City
DH1 3LE

Telephone Number: +44 0191 3342198
Fax Number : +44 0191 3342301

A top world 100 University

Durham ranked top 20 in the world by employers for the quality and demand of its graduates (2012 QS World University League Rankings). Click here for further information.