BSc Applied Earth Sciences
Are you interested in a programme that focuses on the Earth? Do you want to understand how our CO2 emissions affect climate change? How we can model and predict Earth and climate dynamics? And how we can secure our future clean energy supply?
Then Applied Earth Sciences is the programme for you!
In the English taught bachelor's programme Applied Earth Sciences, you will study the part of the Earth system that strongly interacts with our living environment, namely the upper crust from a few kilometres depth up to the atmosphere. The engineers from this programme know how to secure our future sustainable energy supply and are needed for obtaining the critical raw materials for your phone, solar panels, windmills and batteries for our electric cars. They devise innovative solutions for, for example, CO2 storage, investigate how we can use geothermal heat to accelerate the energy transition and monitor our earth and climate using satellite data.
The programme offers you a unique combination of engineering and geology and challenges you in the areas of mathematics, chemistry and physics.
About the programme
Applied Earth Sciences focuses on the earth, from a few kilometres underground to the atmosphere. You will use state-of-the-art technology to study the subsurface, surface and atmosphere and monitor any changes. Amongst others, this information is important for studying and predicting the effects of climate change. During the bachelor programme, you will follow courses on geology, learning all about the Earth system and how to recognise different kinds of rocks and minerals. You will also study many technical subjects, such as mathematics, physics and chemistry. You learn to apply this technical knowledge to the earth, using probability calculations to predict the likelihood of an earthquake, for example, and soil mechanics to determine the solidity of the subsurface.
Applied Earth Sciences is a small-scale programme which means you will be in close contact with lecturers and researchers conducting international leading research. You will apply your technical knowledge to create solutions to urgent and global issues. Such as the energy transition, climate change and subsequent natural hazards. The curriculum offers plenty of room for practical knowledge in the form of practical’s, excursions and fieldwork assignments, both at home and abroad.
"Ever since I can remember I’ve had a huge fascination with how the Earth and its different processes work. I thought studying Applied Earth Sciences would be the best way to dive into that curiosity".
(Ulrich van Staden - Applied Earth Sciences student from South Africa)
"I was determined to work on subjects which revolved around sustainability or the environment. AES was a perfect fit. I have enjoyed the wide variety of courses in the bachelor, the yearly field work, and especially the atmosphere. If would certainly make the same decision again; especially now that the programme is focusing even more on the global challenges of today and the future!"
Renske Free - Applied Earth Sciences, graduated in 2022
Is Applied Earth Sciences something for you?
Students of Applied Earth Sciences are interested in the earth. How can we reveal and explain Earth's underground resources and support their use in an environmentally responsible manner? What technical solutions can we come up with for more sustainable forms of energy? And what effects of climate change can be observed in the atmosphere? You like to come up with technical solutions by combining geology with mathematics, physics and chemistry. Next to that, students of Applied Earth Sciences enjoy applying their knowledge in practice during fieldwork excursions. Even though the world is your playground, the programme can be characterised by a small-scale and personal atmosphere, in which students and professors know each other by name. In addition, the programme is in English and you will study with fellow students from different countries.
| Highlighted Student Story
Volcanic rocks solving CO2 problems
What if we could capture CO2 from the atmosphere and permanently store it under the ground in the form of solid minerals? Applied Earth Sciences student Elara Redondo Garcia didn’t think twice when she had to opportunity to go to Iceland, where they are researching CO2 mineral trapping.
