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. It is based on the course book "Understanding Earth" by John Grotzinger and Thomas H Jordan.

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

The course will focus on the following thematic areas:

• Plate tectonics
• Climate
• Volcanism
• Earthquakes
• Rocks forming processes
• Surface processes
• Geobiology

After the completion of the course, students are expected 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, and
• Communicate their knowledge to a transdisciplinary audience.

The 5-day physical mobility will be held near Stockholm on the islands of Utö and Nåttarö in the Stockholm Archipelago from April 27th to May 1st, 2026.

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 from 4th May to 18th June, 2026.

It comprises online learning material (recorded lectures, quizzes) as well as online instructor-led discussions:

This part of the course is based on the excellent book "Understanding Earth" by John Grotzinger and Thomas H Jordan. You will read this book, watch pre-recorded lectures which bring its contents to life, and meet with your instructors each week to reflect on what you have learned and why it is important from the perspectives of your own discipline and the disciplines of the other scholars with whom you will be studying.

The online part of the course consists of 7 paired sessions (reading material, pre-recorded lectures, online quizzes and an instructor-led online discussion). Online discussions are held from 18:00 – 20:00 CEST according to the following schedule. These discussions are an obligatory part of the course.

• May 7th: Earth system and plate tectonics
• May 14th: Rock-forming processes and volcanoes
• May 21st: Rock-forming processes and earthquakes
• May 28th: Climate and humans
• June 4th: Water and ice
• June 11th: Surface processes
• June 18th: Planetary history and geobiology

Students will be assessed based on the following:

• The physical part will be assessed based on a field report (weighted 20%)
• The virtual part will be assessed based on online quizzes (weighted 80%)

Motivation Letter

Level of english (According to CEFR)

CV

Students' applications will be evaluated based on the CV, the motivation letter and the 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