Holocene Climates

Entry requirements

Applicants for this course should have achieved a UK High 2:1 Honours Degree

Months of entry

October

Course content

This MPhil offers an 11-month programme of advanced study and research into the natural and anthropogenic causes and ecological and societal consequences of Holocene climate variability. The course is intended for students with a strong first degree in geography or a related discipline, such as environmental sciences and (paleo)climatology. The curriculum will:

• enable students to acquire a critical and well-informed understanding of the accepted and contested academic, public and political understanding of natural and anthropogenic climate change over the past 12,000 years;
• provide a comprehensive background of Holocene climate variability on different time scales with different levels of ecological and societal responses, in order to reconcile climate model simulations from an informed perspective;
• give students the opportunity to acquire advanced subject expertise, and transferable skills, relevant to their research interests and career goals;
• equip students for dealing with complex social, political and scientific issues, in the presence of incomplete data, and communicate their positions prudently to specialist and non-specialist audiences;
• provide the prerequisite exposure and familiarity with the many physical tools and techniques used in palaeoclimatology to prepare students for either pursuit of a Doctoral degree or professional position.