Coordinator: Dr Mark Jessell
Prerequisites: Credit in one of the third-year subjects in geology, geophysics, mathematics or physics and/or permission of the head of department, and approval of the faculty.
The Department of Earth Sciences offers an MSc stage one/MSc program designed to provide an alternative to the honours program. In two years full-time, or four years part-time, a student may complete the MSc degree, by coursework and minor thesis. The first two (or four, part-time), semesters are required to complete requirements for the MSc stage one. The MSc thesis may be submitted twelve months subsequently.
In both the MSc stage one and MSc years the course is divided up into a number of components. In the MSc stage-one year students are required to complete five graduate subjects worth four points each, an eight-point essay, a four-point seminar and a sixteen-point research report. In the MSc year each student may take a further three subjects.
In practice all full-time students are required to be working on their research topic when they are not involved in formal course or project units.
Suitable subjects may include:
(a) formal subjects consisting of two lectures and practical classes over thirteen weeks with essays/assignments approved by supervisor;
(b) postgraduate subjects - full-time over two weeks with essays/assignments approved by supervisor (note: VIEPS courses conducted over one week are assigned a weight of four points);
(c) minor independent project units - assignments/review topics;
(d) principal research units - independent thesis topic;
(e) other equivalent work (eg mapping/symposia/laboratory classes) assigned by supervisor.
MSc stage one students must achieve results equivalent to a BSc (Honours) 2A. An overall grade of 70 per cent at the stage one level (an average of course and research units) will secure entry to the MSc program. Lower grades are subject to review and may require approval by the dean.
Students may elect to be assessed for promotion beyond the MSc stage one level after two to three semesters. Students wishing to be assessed must first present a summary of their activities at a research seminar conducted by the Department of Earth Sciences.
Students should consult with appropriate staff members in order to determine an appropriate program of study. MSc stage one students might take some third year geology or geophysics units if the course of study undertaken to BSc level did not encompass the full range of topics available.
Course units available vary each year depending on availability of academic staff. Listed below are course units which have been offered to MSc stage one students. Note that not all these subjects will be available in a given year. In addition MSc stage one students may take courses offered by Monash departments other than Earth Sciences, and departments at La Trobe University and the University of Melbourne, which are members of the Victorian Institute of Earth and Planetary Sciences (VIEPS). All intending students should consult with the MSc coordinator (Dr M Jessell) concerning their choice of course units. A full listing of course units available in 1995, and the times at which they will be offered, will be available from the coordinator at the beginning of the academic year.
More detailed information concerning the MSc stage one/MSc program will be made available through the Faculty of Science office and the Department of Earth Sciences, including detailed scheduling of courses when this information becomes available. Course units offered can be identified in streams as follows.
Geophysics and imaging
Units in this stream include advanced electrical methods; structural analysis of regional geophysics; applied petroleum geology; computers I; hydrogeology; applied petroleum geology.
Tectonics-structure-metamorphism
Units in this stream include introduction to remote sensing; structural analysis of regional geophysics; computers I and II; metamorphism field trip; hydrogeology; deformation microstructures; mesostructural analysis field trip; stable isotopes; strain analysis; tectonics; trace element geochemistry.
Ore deposits
Units include ore genesis; hydrothermal geochemistry; stable isotopes; trace element and isotopes.
Geochemistry-petrology
Units include advanced ore deposits; computers I; stable isotopes; trace element and isotopes; hydrothermal geochemistry.
Basin studies
Units include ore genesis, applied petroleum geology; computers I; hydrogeology; orogenic belts I; palaeobiology of Australasian vertebrates; sedimentary sequence stratigraphy; tectonics; volcanology.
Other higher degree studies in earth sciences
Coordinators: Dr David Gray and Dr Terence Barr
Suitably qualified students with a first class or 2A honours qualification, or the equivalent, may be admitted to MSc or PhD study in the department. The PhD program is a research program but also involves participation in seminar series and, where relevant, recommended short courses (not for credit). The MSc may also be completed as a research program but may be undertaken as a combination of coursework and research . See preceding section.