This degree focuses on the role of the oceans in the Earth System and their influence on climate; past, present and future. The first two years aim at developing a general understanding of the Earth system and the role of the oceans within that system. There is particular focus on the roles of the shallow seas, which surround the continents, and on interactions between ice and the oceans. In the third year students then specialise with modules including computer modeling, of the ocean and a geophysical residential field work. The course therefore places a particular emphasis on gaining skills and knowledge of direct relevance to industry, particularly in relation to issues such as future climate change, sea level rise, marine pollution and exploitation of marine energy.

Placement Year

This course is available as a 4-year ‘with Placement Year’ option. Please apply for Ocean and Geophysics with Placemat Year BSc F7FP.

The placement year provides you with a fantastic opportunity to broaden your horizons and develop valuable skills and contacts through working with a self-sourced organisation relevant to your degree subject. The Placement Year is undertaken at the end of the second year and students are away for the whole of the academic year. The minimum period in placement (at one or more locations) is seven calendar months; more usually you would spend 10-12 months with a placement provider. You would normally start sometime in the period June to September of your second year and finish between June and September the following year. Placements can be UK-based or overseas and you will work with staff to plan and finalise the placement arrangements.

Why choose Bangor University for this course?

The School of Ocean Sciences is one of the largest university centres teaching marine sciences in Britain and was recently described as one of the best place in Europe to study Physical Oceanography by New Scientist magazine.
The physicists and geologists on our staff have expertise in dynamics, ocean optics and acoustics, oceanographic instrumentation, geophysical instrumentation, turbulence and mixing, sedimentary environments, sediment transport and computer modelling. We have strong links with the National Oceanography Centre, Met Office, and the offshore, hydrocarbon and marine renewables industries.
Our unique location provides easy access to fieldwork in the UNESCO designated GeoMôn geopark and the Snowdonia National Park. We are only a few metres away from the Menai Strait and the Irish Sea, model systems studied by oceanography students across the planet.
Final-year projects are often carried out in collaboration with a company – providing you with advantages when seeking employment.
Our excellent facilities include a research vessel, access to supercomputers and state-of-theart survey equipment. We also maintain oceanographic moorings which provide a range of data which you will use.
You will be able to investigate practical aspects of physical oceanography through computer modelling, laboratory experiments and fieldwork, which includes a programme on our research ship.

Course Content

The course involves up to 25 – 35 hours per week of lectures, practicals (laboratory and fieldwork), private study, tutorials and project work. You will also complete literature reviews, exercises, essays, practical and fieldwork write-ups, present and attend seminars and do much reading. In Year 3 you work on a dissertation which will be individually supervised by an Ocean Science staff member with the expertise relevant to your project. The project may take the form of the development and application of numerical models for making predictions of, for example, ocean currents, or the analysis of data.

Employability lectures and a careers fair is embedded into year 2 whilst in the third year, you will be invited to a series of guest lectures (and often interviews) with prospective employers; and be offered trips to various national industry meetings (e.g. Oceanology, Ocean Business).

Assessment methods vary – most modules combine elements of continuous assessment and formal examination.