Prospective Students

Every great advance in science has issued from a new audacity of imagination.

— John Dewey, the Quest for Certainty

We Invite You to Be Audacious With Us!

The Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Delaware is dedicated to advancing our understanding of the Earth and how geological processes have operated over various timescales to create and influence the planet’s surface environments. Our graduate program is inherently interdisciplinary and functions within a broad community of Earth and environmental scientists within the university.

Geological Sciences offers both M.S. and Ph.D. degree programs in Geology. The Department has worked to develop our strengths in several emerging fields – coastal geologic processes, hydrogeology, surface processes and geomorphology, and geomicrobiology – as well as traditional strengths in Quaternary geology, paleontology, and near-surface geophysics. You are encouraged to peruse the faculty website to see specific research projects. You are also encouraged to look at the College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment website – our department is part of this new college dedicated to Earth and environmental systems. CEOE graduate students form a community across discipline and department/school boundaries.

Admissions

Applications to the Department of Geological Sciences are evaluated on the basis of the applicant's academic record, GRE scores, and three letters of recommendation. The Department of Geological Sciences will consider qualified applicants without a previous degree in geology, although preliminary work may be required. A list of department faculty and their research interests is available to assist prospective students in matching their interests to those of our faculty. Applicants are strongly encouraged to contact faculty working in areas that interest them.

Applications should be submitted online through the Office of Professional and Graduate Education. Since we start voting on application files the first week of spring semester in February, we recommend that your application file be complete by the end of January if at all possible although we consider files on a rolling basis during spring semester.

All graduate applicants will be asked to submit the following:

• A completed graduate school application form plus application fee
• Graduate Record Examination (GRE) general (aptitude) test scores
• Official transcripts of all college work
• Three (3) letters of recommendation from persons qualified to judge the student's potential for graduate work (at least two from academic faculty).
• A supplemental page indicating your specific interests in order to help us assign an appropriate adviser
• International students must submit the Test of English as a Foreign Language.

Requirements for Degrees

Requirements for the M.S. degree include 30 credits of graduate study including completion of GEOL 601: Geoscience at Delaware and GEOL 605: Stratigraphy and 6 credits of thesis research, and the preparation and defense of a research thesis.

Requirements for the Ph.D. degree include an oral and written comprehensive examination, a course program developed with the student's dissertation committee (including 9 credits of dissertation research), and completion of GEOL 601: Geoscience at Delaware and GEOL 605: Stratigraphy, and the preparation and defense of a research dissertation.

For both the MS and Ph.D. degrees, course programs are developed on an individual basis to meet the specific needs of the student. The program of study and research is formed by student consultation with the advisor and thesis or dissertation research committee.

Graduate Courses

Newark Campus Life

Financial Support

An offer for admission comes from the Graduate Office after a vote by the department faculty – it is not an offer or guarantee of financial support. Financial offers are made in a separate letter from the Department Chair and are highly competitive, depending on available research and TA funding. Currently, all full-time graduate students in the Department of Geological Sciences receive full financial support (stipend and tuition) in the form of graduate teaching assistantships, fellowships, and research assistantships. Often, there is an additional opportunity to teach during winter term or summer session for supplemental support. Current stipend figures may be readily obtained by contacting the Department.

External Funding Opportunities