Study Path and Courses

In order to get the the Master degree in Exploration and Applied Geophysics, students have to complete a 2 years-long (full-time) study path and reach 120 ECTS. Within the M.Sc degree in Exploration and Applied Geophysics students may chose between three different study paths: 1) Exploration Geophysics Path, where students mainly study subjects related to geophysics for the exploration for georesources; 2) Applied Geophysics Path, where students will mainly study subjects related to geophysics for environmental monitoring and near surface investigations; 3) Earthquake and Volcano Physics Path where students will mainly study subjects related to the physical processes goevening earthquake and volcanic phenomena with the aim to mitigate the hazard they pose for our society.  Here below we show the typical study plans for each path.

Exploration Geophysics  Applied Geophysics  Earthquake and Volcano Physics 
     
Physics Subjects (12 ECTS) Physics Subjects (12 ECTS) Physics Subjects (12 ECTS)
Mathematical Physics for Geosciences (Polini) (mandatory for geologists) (6 ECTS) Mathematical Physics for Geosciences (Polini) (mandatory for geologists) (6 ECTS) Mathematical Physics for Geosciences (Polini) (mandatory for geologists) (6 ECTS)
Rock Physics (Capaccioli) (6 ECTS) Rock Physics (Capaccioli) (6 ECTS) Rock Physics (Capaccioli) (6 ECTS)
Geophysical Instruments (Carelli) (6 ECTS) Geophysical Instruments (Carelli) (6 ECTS) Geophysical Instruments (Carelli) (6 ECTS)
Fluid Dynamics (Califano) (mandatory for non-geologists) (6 ECTS)
     
Geology Subjects (12 ECTS) Geology Subjects (12 ECTS) Geology Subjects (12 ECTS)
Tectonics (Di Rosa)  (6 ECTS) Tectonics (Di Rosa)  (6 ECTS) Faults and Earthquake Physics (Menegnini and Grigoli) (6 ECTS)
Radar Geomorphology (Ribolini)  (6 ECTS) Radar Geomorphology (Ribolini)  (6 ECTS) Physical Volcanonology (Pistolesi) (6 ECTS)
     
Geophysics Subjects (27 ECTS) Geophysics Subjects (27 ECTS) Geophysics Subjects (24 ECTS)
Computational Geophysics (Stucchi) (6 ECTS) Computational Geophysics (Stucchi) (6 ECTS) Earthquake Seismology (Grigoli) (6 ECTS)
Laboratory of Seismic Acquisition and Processing (Tognarelli) (6 ECTS) Laboratory of Seismic Acquisition and Processing (Tognarelli) (6 ECTS) Geophysical Fluid Dynamics (Ongaro) (6 ECTS)
Exploration Seismology and Well Logs (Stucchi and Aleardi) (9 ECTS) Exploration Seismology and well logs (Stucchi and Aleardi) (9 ECTS) Exploration Seismology (Stucchi) (6 ECTS)
Inverse Problems (Aleardi) (6 ECTS) Applied Geophysics (Stucchi) (6 ECTS) Inverse Problems (Aleardi) (6 ECTS)
     
Additional Subjects (15 ECTS) Additional Subjects (15 ECTS) Additional Subjects (15 ECTS)
Signal Processing for Geophysics (Ferrante) (mandatory for all) (6 ECTS) Signal Processing for Geophysics (Ferrante) (mandatory for all) (6 ECTS) Signal Processing for Geophysics (Ferrante) (mandatory for all) (6 ECTS)
Complements of Electromagnetism and Optics (Ferrante) (mandatory for geologists) (3 ECTS) Complements of Electromagnetism and Optics (Ferrante) (mandatory for geologists) (3 ECTS) Complements of Electromagnetism and Optics (Ferrante) (mandatory for geologists) (3 ECTS)
Seismic Imaging (Bienati) (6 ECTS) Environmental Remote Sensing (Lombardini) (6 ECTS) Laboratory of Instrumental Seismology (Saccorotti and Grigoli) (9 ECTS)
Borehole methods for subsurface investigations (Baldini) (6 ECTS) Underwater Systems (Costanzi) (6 ECTS) Computational Geophysics (Stucchi) (6 ECTS)
Introduction to Machine Learning in Geophysics (Grigoli) (3 ECTS) Introduction to Machine Learning in Geophysics (Grigoli) (3 ECTS) Introduction to Machine Learning in Geophysics (Grigoli) (3 ECTS)
  Methods and technologies for Remote Sensing (Alibani) (6 ECTS)  
     
Free Choice Courses (9 ECTS) Free Choice Courses (9 ECTS) Free Choice Courses (15 ECTS)
Seminars (1 ECTS) Seminars (1 ECTS) Seminars (1 ECTS)
Internship (4 ECTS) Internship (4 ECTS) Internship (4 ECTS)
Thesis (40 ECTS) Thesis (40 ECTS) Thesis (40 ECTS)
     
Total (120 ECTS) Total (120 ECTS) Total (120 ECTS)

Free-choice courses can be selected within the list of courses offered by our MSc. program. It is important to mentions that our students are free to partially personalize their study plan in order to further specialize in a particular geophysical sub-field. The full list of courses that our MSc degree program offers can be found here (List of Courses)

Finally, students enrolled in the MSc course may also apply for admission to the Double Degree Programme “International Master of Applied and Exploration Geophysics”, jointly developed by the University of Pisa and the Montan University of Leoben (Austria).

Thesis

The thesis has a central role (40 ECTS) within our MSc program since aims to complete and further specialize the student in a particular field of geophysics. During their thesis students will have the chance to deepen an open research topic in geophysics and show their ability to put into practice what learned during their study path. To give an idea of the MSc thesis successfully defended by our alumni look at this link

All the modules that students need for training activities, fill the study plan, final exam templates, etc. can be found in the section Documents for Students