Fieldwork
Fieldwork is an important part of our undergraduate curriculum.
There are opportunities to participate in both formal fieldwork and student-organised expeditions.
Courses
Third year
The Institute of Geography runs two field courses for students at the beginning of their third year of study, currently to the Netherlands, for those taking human geography courses, and to North Wales, for those taking physical geography courses.
Both aim to introduce students to a range of research methods and techniques in the field.
Final year
In the honours years, students will undertake a dissertation based on a subject of their own choosing, and this will usually involve a fieldwork component.
Three of the research electives taken in the final year include fieldwork. One elective is based on human geography fieldwork in Iceland, whilst the others are based on physical geography fieldwork, one in the Scottish Highlands and one in Iceland.
Scientific expeditions
Students regularly participate in scientific expeditions, which may be organised by the Institute, organisations such as the Royal Scottish Geographical Society or indeed by students themselves. In the past, such expeditions have taken our students to countries such as:
- Belize
- Chile
- Norway
- Sweden
- Greenland
Study abroad
Opportunities to study abroad are available to Geography students at Edinburgh.
These consist of periods of between three months and a full year during which students are based at universities outside of the UK.
We have formal exchange programmes with several universities in North America and Europe.
This article was published on May 19, 2010