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The MSc by Research in Earth Sciences offers an opportunity to join our thriving research community to refine your research skills and develop advanced scientific and technical knowledge through an original research project supervised by internationally-renowned academic research staff.

You’ll contribute to the research culture in the Earth Sciences at Royal Holloway, a leading centre for multidisciplinary research, with a wide range of industrial and commercial collaborations and partners within the energy, environmental and extraction sectors. 

The Department of Earth Sciences is one of the leading centres of research and teaching in the UK. 88% of our research is rated world-leading or internationally excellent in the most recent Research Excellence Framework (REF 2021).
Our research is based in two centres: Centre for Planetary Resilience and Resources and the Centre of Climate, Ocean and Atmosphere (COCOA). This framework encourages and promotes multidisciplinary activity and supports researchers.

Graduates are invited to contact individual members of staff in the department in the first instance to discuss potential research projects. Your research topic will be developed into a project proposal through discussion with your chosen supervisor from the full breadth of the themes covered by the Research Centres within the Department.

You will have access to world-class facilities in high-quality, custom-designed laboratories for conducting research and training activities in air quality monitoring; analogue modelling; aerosol studies; computing; greenhouse gas measurements and analysis, Laser ablation-ICP-MS analysis, light stable isotope analysis; mineral separation; multi-collector-ICP-MS analysis; palaeobiology; rock crushing; scanning electron microscopy; sea-ice studies; wet geochemical analysis; X-ray diffraction and X-ray fluorescence.

You’ll develop skills in experimental design, data collection, analysis and interpretation, and analytical methods, as well as transferable team working and presentation skills. You may also be encouraged to present your work at national and international conferences, and to prepare your work for publication in peer-reviewed scientific journals.

The MSc by Research will help you to develop valuable vocational skills and acquire industry insight to prepare for a career in a wide range of research and employment sectors, or to gain experience in original research prior to taking a full PhD programme.