About us

Find information about the School of GeoSciences, including who we are, our facilities and campus locations, partnerships and more.

Our world is facing many significant and complex challenges. Rising inequality and the mass displacement of people, urbanisation, finite natural resources and unprecedented rates of climate and environmental change and associated extreme events all pose formidable challenges for our future.

At the School of GeoSciences, we work to help make that future better.

Our vision

"To understand the natural world and develop solutions to key societal challenges and inequalities in order to secure a more socially-just and environmentally sustainable world".

A group of university students walking through a gate and down stone steps outside a building in Edinburgh

Our School

We are one of the largest and most successful interdisciplinary groupings of geographers and geoscientists in the UK, with a community of staff, students and researchers passionately committed to understanding the impact of climate on the Earth's systems, the environment and ecosystems, as well as the social, economic, cultural and political implications for society.

Through our staff and students' many achievements, we present cutting-edge research, inspirational teaching and innovative thinking, attracting some of the greatest minds from around the globe. Our work is continuously expanding our knowledge of our planet and the lives of ordinary people.

Our research and teaching span:

physical sciences
social sciences
humanities

We work closely with other universities, charities, the third sector, communities and governments, and business and industry to respond to global and social challenges and do justice to future generations.

Teaching

As part of a leading global University, we know education plays a vital role in addressing global challenges and our shared responsibility to respond to them. We equip our students with the knowledge and skills to contribute to a sustainable future for a changing world.

Our degrees are strengthened through a wide range of internal and external collaborations, including the University's other schools, Scotland's Rural College (SRUC), British Geological Survey, Scottish Universities Environment Research Centre (SUERC), as well as partnerships with international institutions.

We take pride in our student-centred community, which includes students of all levels, backgrounds and nationalities, as well as our valued and extensive alumni network.

Explore our degrees

Research

Our interdisciplinary research approach is one of our key strengths, enabling us to engage directly with our work's social and political aspects and its impacts.

We have embedded the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in our research, knowledge exchange and innovation.

Explore our research

Contact us

A woman and two men smiling and talking in front of a University of Edinburgh welcome sign

Detailed information on how to find us and who to contact.

Buildings and campuses

An outside view showing a modern timber and glass structure of the ECCI building

Our School is based in several buildings across two University campuses in the beautiful city of Edinburgh, Scotland.

Our research facilities

A female scientist seated at a desk surrounded by technical equipment in a science facility

Our School has a full range of laboratory, field, and workshop facilities for our staff, undergraduate, postgraduate and research students. Some can also be used for research collaborations or hire.

Working with business and industry

Group space satellite orbiting Earth and bright lights from the sun reflected on solar panels. Image elements furnished by NASA

We work with a variety of partners and in a number of ways to support business goals.

Sustainability

Fragments of floating ice from an ice floe in the ocean with a colourful sunset behind

We recognise that climate change is one of the most significant global challenges of the 21st Century, and continually work to become more socially responsible and sustainable.