MSc coordinator: Professor Ray Cas + Prerequisites: Credit average in one of the third-year major sequences in geology, geophysics, mathematics or physics and/or permission of the head of school, and approval of the faculty
The School of Geoscience offers a MSc Preliminary/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 designated as an MSc Preliminary. The actual MSc thesis may be submitted 12 months subsequently.
In both the MSc Preliminary and the MSc, the course is divided into a number
of components. In the MSc Preliminary year, students are required to complete
five graduate units, an essay, a seminar and a research report. In the
following MSc year, each student may take a further three units.
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 units may include:
(a) formal units consisting of two lectures and practical
classes over 13 weeks with essays/assignments approved by supervisor
(b) postgraduate units - full-time over two weeks with essays/ assignments
approved by supervisor (note that 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.
Students wishing to proceed to the MSc from the MSc Preliminary must present
a summary of their MSc Preliminary activities at a research seminar conducted
by the School of Geoscience. To be eligible for admission to the MSc, MSc
Preliminary students must achieve results equivalent to a BSc(Honours 2A) (an
overall grade of 70 per cent or better). Lower grades are subject to review and
may require approval from the dean.
Students should consult with appropriate staff members in order to determine a
suitable program of study. MSc Preliminary students may 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 Preliminary
students. Note that not all these units will be available in a given year. In
addition, MSc Preliminary students may take courses offered by Monash schools
other than Geosciences, 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
school's MSc coordinator concerning their choice of course units. A full
listing of course units available in 2002 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 program will be made available
through the Faculty of Science office and the School of Geoscience, including
detailed scheduling of courses when this information becomes available. Course
units offered can be identified in streams as follows.
Units in this stream include advanced electrical methods; structural analysis of regional geophysics; applied petroleum geology; computers I and II; hydrogeology; applied petroleum geology.
Units in this stream include introduction to remote sensing; structural analysis of regional geophysics; metamorphism field trip; hydrogeology; deformation microstructures; mesostructural analysis field trip; stable isotopes; strain analysis; tectonics; trace element geochemistry.
Units include ore genesis; hydrothermal geochemistry; stable isotopes; trace element and isotopes.
Units include advanced ore deposits; computers I; stable isotopes; trace element and isotopes; hydrothermal geochemistry; thermodynamics and phase petrology.
Units include ore genesis, applied petroleum geology; computers I; hydrogeology; orogenic belts I; palaeobiology of Australasian vertebrates; sedimentary sequence stratigraphy; tectonics; volcanology.
Units include hydrogeology, aqueous geochemistry, environmental studies.
The School of Mathematical Sciences offers a number of MSc by coursework programs, particularly in the areas of statistics and meteorology. See also the `Areas of graduate study' section.
A Master of Science degree specialising in meteorology is offered through the Centre for Dynamical Meteorology and Oceanography at Monash University. The course aims to provide a strong background in the fundamentals of meteorology and their practical application.
Current areas of research include, but are not restricted to, climate variability and change; stratospheric dynamics and ozone; bushfire behaviour; mesoscale meteorology, fronts; clouds, convection and aerosols; tropical cyclones; atmospheric gravity waves; nonlinear wave dynamics; physical oceanography; and geophysical fluid dynamics. Candidates may be offered joint supervision with a supervisor from the Bureau of Meteorology or CSIRO Atmospheric Research, and under this arrangement the range of research fields is greatly extended.
An approved honours degree or equivalent relevant experience.
Two years (full-time) or four years (part-time).
This course is run as part of the Key Centre for Statistical Science, a joint program of Monash University, RMIT, the University of Melbourne and La Trobe University. To a complete a MSc by coursework, students complete six units and a minor thesis.
An approved bachelors degree and honours in statistics.
Two years (full-time) or four years (part-time).
Previous page | Next page | Section contents | Title and contents