The 'Geoscientific Project' can be a marine survey, a field or mapping project, a technical development, a school or media project, or a personal contribution to a commercial or international geoscientific venture. It may be devised and realized in a fully self-contained approach or be integrated as contribution to an ongoing research or commercial project.

The responsibility to initiate one’s project and find a suitable advisor is entirely on the side of the students. Both individual and team projects are possible; in case of field projects, the latter often have logistic and operational advantages. For team projects, a well-defined task-sharing should be established from the beginning. Contribution and performance of every team partner must be demonstrated and evaluated separately at the end. The geoscientific project should not anticipate the mostly lab-oriented and analytical master thesis project. Not the scientific progress is in the foreground, but a conclusive idea, practical value, wise planning, and a telling and interesting documentation of results and - last not least - the broadening of the own horizon.

The temporal frame of each project exercise should not greatly exceed or fall below
9-11 weeks (450 hours / 15 CP) for reasons of comparability and recognition. The
period from September to November within the 3rd semester is kept free for this purpose. The practical part of the project exercise can also be realized earlier at demand. In late November of the 3rd semester, a project report must be submitted and an oral colloquium presentation given in the presence of fellow students and project advisors.

The project exercise is set out to develop and train practical skills of both professional and general character. It enables the students to realize own conceptions, to acquire additional fields of competence and to establish contacts, which may improve their chances on the job market. The project fosters personal initiative and „learning by doing“, but equally represents a supervised, output-oriented practical project, which is to be documented in a written report and presented in a public report colloquium.

Project-specific knowledge and skills

15 CP = 450 hours / 9-11 weeks

2 weeks conception and preparation,
4-6 weeks project work
4 weeks finalization, documentation and presentation

module exam (combined marks):

case-dependent