Understanding Earth

The course covers climate, climate change, plate tectonics, rock-forming processes, geobiology, volcanoes, earthquakes, surface processes (glacial, river, wind, and hillslope environments), climate, water cycle, and ocean circulation.

The course consists of an online part (virtual mobility) and a field part (physical mobility).

The course will focus on the following thematic areas:

• Earth Structure
• Continental Drift and Plate Tectonics
• Rocks
• Earthquakes and Volcanoes
• Climate System
• Climate Variability
• Climate Change
• Biodiversity
• Ecosystem Services
• Climate Change Solutions

After the completion of the course, students are expected to be able to:

• explain basic geoscientific principles especially of relevance to climate and environment;
• interpret past climates and environments from landscapes, sediments and rocks;
• engage in academic discussions concerning past climates and environments, and about geological processes;
• reflect over the meanings of human and geologic timescales;
• communicate their knowledge to a transdisciplinary audience.

The 5-day physical mobility will be held on the islands of Utö and Nåttarö (in the Stockholm Archipelago) between 12-16 April 2027.

In this spectacular natural laboratory, we will work on multiple timescales, exploring a 2-billion-year legacy of volcanism, early life and the rise of oxygen on Earth, in a landscape that was been shaped both by the ice sheets that once covered northern Europe, and by the humans who came afterwards. 

While in the field, you will find out how geologists read about the past by studying rocks, sediments and landforms. Together, we will reflect on the importance of understanding the past when we face challenges of the future. 

The virtual part will be running between 1 February - 5 April 2027. It comprises 10 online lectures and supporting online material (recorded lectures, quizzes):

• 1 February – Earth’s Structure and Plate Tectonics
• 8 February – Rocks (Igneous, Sedimentary, Metamorphic)
• 15 February – Earthquakes and Volcanoes
• 22 February – Climate System
• 1 March – Climate Variability: Millions of Year and Thousands of Years
• 8 March – Climate Change
• 15 March – Biodiversity
• 22 March – Ecosystem Services
• 29 March – Climate Change Solutions: Adaptation and Mitigation
• 5 April – Exam (online)

Students will be assessed based on:

• a field report (weighted 20%) for the physical part;
• an online written exam (weighted 80%) for the virtual part.

Motivation Letter

Level of english (According to CEFR)

CV

Students' applications will be evaluated based on:

• CV, 
• motivation letter,
• level of English.

Selection will be made on the basis of the order in which fully complete application are received.

• Alasdair Skelton, Professor of Geochemistry and Petrology at Stockholm University
  
• Niki Evelpidou, Professor of Geomorphology and Geoinformatics at National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
• Todd Ehlers, Professor of Geology at University of Glasgow
• Christophe Glotzbach, Researcher at University of Tübingen

Blended Intensive Programme

This CIVIS course is a Blended Intensive Programme (BIP): a new format of Erasmus+ mobility which combines online teaching with a short trip to another campus to learn alongside students and professors across Europe.

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