Earth Science and Engineering (ErSE)
Aims and Scope
In the Earth Science and Engineering (ErSE) program at KAUST, faculty and their students engage in interdisciplinary research to understand and model geophysical processes due to the complex and changing nature of our planet. The ErSE curriculum provides graduate-level education in geophysical sciences and their applications in two distinct specializations represented by two tracks:
Fluid Earth Systems
Solid Earth Systems
The program is rich with opportunities, for both M.Sc. and Ph.D. students, with a focus on modern computational and advanced data-analysis methods to study geophysical problems associated with atmospheric processes and ocean circulation, oil exploration and reservoir modelling, earthquake processes and crustal deformation. Students in this program receive broad training in numerical methods, mathematical modelling and geophysics. M.Sc. students have an option to participate in scientific research activities that include computational and mathematical modelling or field-study projects (M.Sc. with thesis). Ph.D. candidates in the program conduct original research publishable in international high-ranking peer-reviewed journals.
ErSE students must specify one of the available tracks as their major. Students in the Fluid Earth systems track study flow and transport processes both beneath and above the Earth’s surface, including subsurface, surface and atmospheric flows. Students in the Solid Earth systems track focus on seismology, geophysics, geodynamics and geomechanics.
Assessment Test
Students are admitted to KAUST from a wide variety of programs and backgrounds. In order to facilitate the design of an appropriate study plan, all admitted students without a master’s degree are required to take a written assessment exam when they arrive on campus. The purpose of the assessment is to determine whether students have mastered the prerequisites for undertaking graduate-level courses taught in the program. The academic advisor works with admitted students to develop a study plan if needed. Students are encouraged to prepare for the assessment by refreshing the general knowledge gained from their undergraduate education before arriving at KAUST. The study plan requirements must be satisfactorily completed, in addition to the University degree requirements.