Earth Science - Palaeobiology Uppsala University

Overview

Key Features

The Earth Science - Palaeobiology program at Uppsala University combines research in geosciences with the biological sciences to recreate and understand the evolutionary changes that have taken place throughout history.

The specialisation in Palaeobiology, within the Master's Programme in Earth Science, is focused on the evolution of life with courses ranging from palaeobiological principles, through to the evolution of organisms to complex vertebrate life forms. This is a mainly research-oriented specialisation, but has applications to careers in geology and the oil industry.

We try to understand how life has evolved over millions of years and how it adapted to constant changes in the environment and climate. We do this by combining traditional fossil studies with modern biological methods. The research includes the evolution of animals in connection with major biological events, especially those of the so-called Cambrian explosion, and how different types of microorganisms have evolved and changed in relation to the climate and climate change over a period extending from today until over a billion years ago.

During the programme you can expect to:

• understand how life has evolved over millions of years,
• understand how life adapted to constant changes in the environment and climate,
• combine traditional fossil studies with modern biological methods,
• study of microorganisms to vertebrates.

The Department of Earth Sciences at Uppsala University is one of the most comprehensive academic departments of its kind in Europe. Research in Earth Science focuses on subjects that range from the Earth's core to the atmosphere, on scales from sub-microscopic minerals and fossils to the formation of mountains and oceans, and in time from the formation of the Earth to the processes currently reshaping the planet.