Geophysics offers wide career prospecs and, to date, almost all our graduates are stably employed in geophysical companies or in the academic sector. Overall, the geophysical market is extremely large and includes many industrial sectors such as energy and georesources exploration, environmental protection and restoration, civil engineering, and cultural heritage. 

Energy and Georesources

The energy sector is certainly the main player in the geophysical market. Here geophysics is extensively used for the exploration of conventional and renewable energy resources (e.g. geothermal resources) but also for the induced seismicity monitoring associated with underground industrial operations (e.g. Geothermal Enrgy Production and CO2 storage operations). Thanks to the strict connection of the MSc in Exploration and Applied Geophysics with companies operating in this sector, many of our graduates got a job at ENI (the major energy company in Italy) or in geophysical companies such as Schlumberger, CGG, PGS, and many others.

Environmental and Civil Engineering

Although smaller but not less important, the environmental and civil engineering sector, mainly represented by small-to-medium size companies, holds a good fraction of the geophysical market. Here geophysics is used to assist the design of large infrastructures (tunnels, highways, bridges) but also for detecting and tracking pollutants (just to make a few examples). Also in this case many alumni of our MSc program currently work in such companies or founded their own companies and startups.

Scientific Research

Geophysics plays a pivotal role in diverse research areas, including exploring planetary interiors, understanding seismic and volcanic processes, natural hazard mitigation, advancing sensor technologies and developing geophysical data analysis algorithms. In this context, a non-negligible number of our graduates prosecuted their career path with a Ph.D. in geophysics (both in Italy and  abroad) and are now continuing their careers in the scientific research sector as post-doc or research staff members in many important universities and research centres around the world.