Undergraduate courses Earth Sciences
This programme is taught in French.
field(s) of training :
Science, Technology, Health
diploma level :
Bachelor's degree (three-year degree)
duration of the program :
3 years
Course overview
What are the challenges and the risks related to marine and earth environments? How can humans preserve and manage the resources of the Earth? With the bachelor’s programme in Earth Sciences, learn everything about the study and understanding of geosciences!
The three-year full-time bachelor’s programme focuses on geosciences and provides fundamentals and methods in geology, physics, chemistry, computer science and environment sciences. Moreover, the programme trains you to the new technologies used in Earth sciences (digital, geophysical and geochemical tools).
Hence the bachelor’s programme in Earth Sciences offers both a diversified and progressive curriculum to help you build your professional or study project. You will study and understand modern geoscience and their implications regarding preservation, environment management, resources and natural risks.
Highlights
Field trips are a must-have to learn geology. As such, the bachelor’s in Earth Sciences contains approximately 200 contact hours in the field! The bachelor’s regularly organises field trips and studies in Normandy and in the Alps.
Welcoming international students
Since 2019, the University of Caen Normandy has been awarded the "Bienvenue en France" label by Campus France, highlighting the quality of the university's welcome for international students.
Application requirements
Entry requirements
To enter this bachelor’s, you should graduate from a high school diploma with scientific majors such as Life and Earth Sciences, Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry.
Applicants must provide:
- Previous academic results
- Cover letter and resume
Apply and register
The registration process takes place in 3 steps:
Application process
Registration process
First registration at university.
Re-registration at university.
Tuition fees
The administrative registration includes the payment of the Student Life and Campus Contribution and the payment of registration fees. Details can be found on the course portal.
Course structure
Courses
- Take place on site in the University of Caen Normandy
- Campus 1
- Campus 2 for interventions in physics and chemistry
- Amount to 500 hours per year, approximately 20 hours per week
Course units
The curriculum of the bachelor’s in Earth Sciences rely on general scientific courses (mathematics, physics, chemistry) as well as geology (fundamental and applied), digital tools and field trips.
In Year 1, you will attend courses in:
- Introduction to geosciences (jobs and tools in geosciences, rocks and fossils, Earth-Ocean-Atmosphere, diversity of life, environment sciences)
- General scientific courses (mathematics, physics, chemistry)
- Transferrable skills (professional project, English, computer science)
In Year 2, you will improve your knowledge and skills with courses such as:
- Geosciences (petrology, stratigraphy, palaeontology, geochemistry, Earth physics, economic geology, France geology)
- Digital tools (geographic information system (GIS), data analysis, geologic modelling in 3D)
- General scientific courses (physics, chemistry)
- Transferrable skills (English and optional courses)
In Year 3, you will specialise your studies in Earth Sciences with courses such as:
- Geosciences (sedimentology, tectonics and geodynamics, basins geology, geomorphology, geophysics)
- Digital tools (GIS, modelling, remote sensing, digital image processing)
- Applied geology (geotechnics, hydrogeology)
- Field trips (Normandy, Alps)
Internships and placements
The bachelor’s programme includes an optional internship that can last up to 6 weeks. You can do your internship in Year 2 or Year 3, in a company or a laboratory, in France or abroad, and thus, for example, visit a laboratory and discover first-hand research activities.
Coursework and assessment
The course lasts 3 years and is divided in 6 semesters, each comprising several courses units. Examinations are held at the end of each semester and are graded on a scale from 0 to 20, 20 being the best grade. Grade compensation is organized without eliminatory marks and on the basis of the general average obtained in every course unit:
- Over each semester
- Over the 2 semesters of the same year
To successfully complete a semester, you must have an average mark of at least 10 points out of 20. If you have not completed your semester, you can retake the courses units you failed; you do not have to retake the courses in which you have obtained at least 10 points out of 20.
Course arrangements for eligible students
The Relais Handicap Santé provides personalised support to people with disabilities throughout their training to facilitate their educational integration.
Language
French
Study abroad
The bachelor’s in Earth Sciences welcomes one or two foreign students each year. You also wish to go abroad (website in French)? In Year 3, you can study abroad for a semester or a year in one of our partner universities:
- Quebec (Quebec, Laval, Chicoutimi), thanks to the Quebec Student Exchange Programme
- Norway (Bergen)
- United States of America
Learning outcome
By the end of this course, you will be able to
- Master fundamentals and technologies in geodynamics, tectonics, petrology, geophysics, geotechnics, cartography, sedimentology and palaeontology
- Recognise and characterise geologic objects on every scale
- Use scientific devices in the field
- Validate a model by comparing previsions with experimental results
- Use fundamental mechanisms on the microscopic scale, phenomena modelling on the macroscopic scale, and link macroscopic phenomena to microscopic processes
- Use data acquisition and analysis systems
Further study
You wish to change programme during your studies? The bachelor’s programme in Earth Sciences is part of the Biology and Earth and Life Sciences department: once you’ve validated Year 1 in the bachelor’s in Computer Sciences, you can change programme to attend the Life and Earth Sciences bachelor’s of the same department.
You will have the opportunity to apply to these bachelor’s programmes during your application on Year 2 only (the courses being too specialised in Year 2 to change programme).
However, at the end of Year 2, you can also apply to Year 3 of the bachelor’s programme in Geography.
Once you’ve obtained your bachelor’s degree, you can pursue your studies with:
- Masters’ programmes
-
- Agrosciences, Environment, Territories, Landscapes, Forest
- Microbiology
- Biology and Agrosciences
- Biology and Health
- Integrative biology and physiology
- Marine Sciences
- Teaching
- Engineering degrees such as the Agrifood Industry programme of the ESIX Normandie, that you can access as soon as you have completed Year 2
Once you’ve validated Year 2, you can also apply directly to professional bachelor’s programmes:
- Careers in Environment Protection and Management
- Cartography, topography and geographic information systems specialised in Geographic information systems · Diagnosis and Land-Use Planning
Careers
The bachelor’s degree is the first step to pursue careers related to life sciences. According to our last surveys, 8 students out of 10 went further with their studies after graduating from their bachelor’s degree. Hence your career will depend on your specialisation and the diploma you pursue after your bachelor’s.
Hence, you will have opportunities in consulting offices, companies or public services, in France or abroad, in a wide range of fields:
- Energies
- Mineral resources
- Water resources
- Public works
- Environment and land-use planning
- Education
- Research
Address
Université de Caen Normandie
UFR des Sciences
Boulevard Maréchal Juin · CS 14032 · 14032 Caen Cedex 5
France
Course leader: Pierre WEILL | pierre.weill@unicaen.fr First year coordinator: Sandric LESOURD | sandric.lesourd@unicaen.fr Second year coordinator: Daniel AMORESE | daniel.amorese@unicaen.fr Third year coordinator: Pierre WEILL | pierre.weill@unicaen.fr
School / Faculty
scolarite.sciences.bst.licences@unicaen.fr
Course leader
formation : Pierre Weill · pierre.weill@unicaen.fr