Earth Science and Engineering M.Sc. Program
ErSE master’s students must choose one of the available tracks. Students in the Geophysical Fluids and Climate System Science track study flow and transport processes both beneath and above the Earth’s surface, including ocean and atmospheric circulation, flows in subsurface porous media, transport of dust and anthropogenic pollutants in atmosphere and ocean, and their effect on climate. Students in the Geophysics track focus on seismology, geophysics, geodynamics and geomechanics. The Geology track focuses on (carbonate) sedimentology and stratigraphy, petrology/geochemistry and structural geology. The Machine Learning in Geosciences track equips graduate students with the fundamentals of machine learning (ML) methods and their applications to geoscience problems.
It is the responsibility of students to plan their graduate program in consultation with their academic advisor. Students are required to meet all deadlines. Students should be aware that most core courses are offered only once per year.
The Master of Science (M.Sc.) degree comprises thesis and non-thesis options. It is awarded upon successful completion of a minimum of 36 credit hours. A minimum GPA of 3.0 must be achieved to graduate. Individual courses require a minimum of a B- for course credit. Students are expected to complete the M.Sc. degree in three semesters. Satisfactory participation in every KAUST summer session is mandatory.
The M.Sc. Requirements
- Core courses (12 credits) designed to provide students with the background needed to establish a solid foundation in the program area
- Elective courses (12 credits) designed to allow students to tailor their educational experience to meet individual research and educational objectives, with the permission of the academic advisor
- M.Sc. thesis research or research/capstone experience (12 credits) designed to provide students with the research experience
- Graduate seminar 398 (non-credit) – all students are required to register and receive a satisfactory grade for every semester of the program they attend
- Completion of one Winter Enrichment Program (WEP)
Geophysical Fluids and Climate System Science Track Requirements
Core Courses (12 credits). Choose at least 4 - at least 2 from ErSE and at least one from AMCS:
Geology Track Requirements
Core Courses (12 credits). Choose at least 4 courses:
Elective Courses (12 credits). Choose at least 4 courses:
Machine Learning in Geosciences Track Requirements
Core Courses (12 credits). Choose at least 4 courses:
Elective Courses (12 credits). Choose at least 4 courses:
| ErSE 201 | Geophysical Fluid Dynamics I | 3 |
| ErSE 210 | Seismology | 3 |
| ErSE 211 | Global Geophysics | 3 |
| ErSE 214 | Seismic Exploration | 3 |
| ErSE 260 | Seismic Imaging | 3 |
| ErSE 294 | Contemporary Topics in Earth Science | 3 |
| ErSE 301 | Geophysical Fluid Dynamics II | 3 |
| ErSE 303 | Numerical Methods of Geophysics | 3 |
| ErSE 305 | Multiphase Flows in Porous Media | 3 |
| ErSE 328 | Advanced Seismic Inversion | 3 |
| ErSE 331 | Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) in Earth Sciences | 3 |
| ErSE 353 | Data Assimilation | 3 |
| ErSE 360 | Mathematical Methods for Seismic Imaging | 3 |
| ErSE 394 | Contemporary Topics in Earth Science | 3 |
| AMCS 211 | Numerical Optimization | 3 |
| AMCS 241/STAT 250 | Stochastic Processes | 3 |
| AMCS 308 | Stochastic Numerics with Application in Simulation and Data Science | 3 |
| AMCS 312 | High Performance Computing | 3 |
| AMCS 350 | Spectral Methods for Uncertainty Quantification | 3 |
| CS 201 | Introduction to Programming with Python | 3 |
| CS 204 | Data Structures and Algorithms | 3 |
| CS 207 | Programming Methodology and Abstractions | 3 |
| CS 220 | Data Analytics | 3 |
| CS 323 | Deep Learning for Visual Computing | 3 |
| CS 331 | Stochastic Gradient Descent Methods | 3 |
| CS 340 | Computational Methods in Data Mining | 3 |
| CS 341 | Advanced Topics in Data Management | 3 |
| ERPE 221 | Geoscience Fundamentals | 3 |
| ME 200A | Incompressible Flows | 3 |
| MSE 200 | Mathematics for Material Science and Engineering | 3 |
Geophysics Track Requirements
Core Courses (12 credits). Choose at least 4 - at least 2 from ErSE and at least one from AMCS:
Elective Courses (12 credits). Choose at least 4 courses:
Research/Capstone Experience (12 credits)
The details of this portion of the degree are uniquely determined by students with the permission of the academic advisor and will involve a combination of research and other capstone experiences. Students are expected to work weekly a minimum of 3 hours/week per each research credit they are registered for. MLG track students are strongly encouraged to include a summer internship at a high-tech company that requires machine learning applications.
M.Sc. Thesis
Students wishing to pursue the thesis option must have at least a 3.2 cumulative GPA. A minimum of 12 credits of thesis research (297) is required. Students are permitted to register for more than 12 credits of M.Sc. thesis research with the permission of the academic advisor. The selected academic advisor must be a fulltime program-affiliated assistant, associate or full professor at KAUST. The faculty not affiliated with ErSE can become project-affiliated for the only specific thesis project upon program-level approval. Project-affiliation approval must be completed prior to commencing research.
A written thesis and an oral defense of the M.Sc. thesis are required. The students have to submit a final copy of the thesis to the thesis committee members at least two weeks prior to the defense date.
The thesis defense committee, which must be approved by the dean, consists of three KAUST faculty. If additional expertise is needed the committee could be extended, subject to dean’s approval. At least two committee members must be affiliated with the program. The chair may be any KAUST faculty familiar with the program rules. This membership can be summarized as:
| Member |
Role |
Program Status |
| 1 |
Chair |
Within or outside program |
| 2 |
Faculty |
Within program |
| 3 |
Faculty |
Within or outside program |
| 4 |
Additional faculty or research scientist |
Within or outside program |
Notes:
- Members 1, 2, and one of 3 or 4 are required
- Co-chairs may serve as member 2 or 3
- Adjunct professors and professors emeriti may retain their roles on current committees, but may not serve as chair on any new committees
- Professors of practice and research professors may serve as members 2 or 3 depending upon their affiliation with the student’s program, they may also serve as co-chairs
- Visiting professors may serve as member 3
View a list of faculty and their affiliations here.
M.Sc. Non-Thesis
Students wishing to pursue the non-thesis option must complete a total of 12 capstone credits, with a minimum of 6 credits of directed research (299).
Students must complete the remaining credits through one or a combination of the options listed below:
- Broadening experience courses: courses that broaden a student’s M.Sc. experience
- Internship: research-based summer internship (295) – students are only allowed to take one internship
- Ph.D. courses: courses numbered at the 300 level
Graduate Seminar
All students are required to register and receive a satisfactory grade in the graduate seminar (non-credit) for every semester of the program they attend.
Winter Enrichment Program (WEP)
Students are required to satisfactorily complete at least one full Winter Enrichment Program (WEP).