Astrophysics and Geology BSc (Hons)

University of Keele

Set in 600 acres of countryside in North Staffordshire, we have one of the largest and most beautiful campuses in Britain. We’re proud to be No.2 in England for Student Satisfaction with Course (Guardian University League Table, 2020), investing more than £140m in our campus in the last ten years, including £45m new science laboratories. In 2021 we were proud to be awarded Sustainability Institution of the Year at the prestigious Green Gown Awards as part of our mission to become a carbon neutral campus by 2030. We're committed to supporting you to achieve your career goals, and have a dedicated Careers and Employability team who can assist you to navigate your options beyond Keele.

This programme will be made up of a combination of modules from both Astrophysics and Geology. In Astrophysics, you will learn to formulate and tackle problems – from below the level of the atomic nucleus to astronomical scales. Geology is a science fundamental to modern day living, with geologists discovering society’s major resource needs including metals, minerals, energy and groundwater.

Astrophysics is active wherever the laws of physics are being tested to the limit – and beyond. Keele will help you to use astronomical observations, mathematical models and computer simulation to develop theories explaining some of the most complex phenomena.

You’ll develop your mathematics and computing skills, and apply them to solving a range of problems in the laboratory and beyond (you’ll have access to Keele’s own on-site observatory). We are committed to supporting you throughout your studies, providing you flexible access to our staff to seek advice or feedback.

Alongside this you will be studying Geology. The combined honours geology course at Keele covers a range of topics which may include looking at rocks, minerals and fossils and geological processes. On this course, we aim to focus particularly on applied research skills which will encourage you to collect, analyse and interpret different types of geological data, and to carry out your own research using specialist software and equipment. It may also cover geological processes such as earthquakes, volcanoes and plate tectonics, and how these processes produce different geological materials.

Geology is a practical subject with applied problem-solving laboratory classes and field courses where you will learn how to interpret and map geological features, and explore for future geological resources. You will acquire a wide range of transferable skills, including communication, decision-making and problem-solving skills, and the ability to research, evaluate and synthesise information from diverse sources. You will also explore subject specific-skills like the ability to manipulate, analyse and present geospatial data using industry standard GIS and drawing software.

This combined course is accredited by the Institute of Physics and is also accredited by the Geological Society of London.