Program Overview

Highly practical in nature, extensive field work and laboratory investigations build your understanding of the ocean systems and develop your analytical skills. Through the coastal boundary zone to the deep ocean, you’ll examine the dynamics and dependencies behind ocean circulation, tectonics, climate, the geological cycle, sea level change and the sedimentary processes within the marine environment.

You will learn how to sample and test various surface and underwater sediments, as well as the flow of water, tides, waves, density currents, and more. In Year 1, for example, you visit GeoMôn Global Geopark, home to more than 100 rock types and the oldest fossils in England and Wales, to see how processes that still occur in today’s oceans formed this ancient environment.

In Year 2, you spend a full day at sea on our research vessel, collecting your own data sampling the movement of the water column and the physical, chemical and biological matter suspended within it, and the properties of the seabed. Using a wide range of oceanographic and geophysical instrumentation onboard, you’ll measure salinity, temperature, tidal currents, and chlorophyll, which will enable you to reconstruct this dynamic system, and build your specialist skills.

In Year 3, you will spend a week on our coastal processes field course, learning how the sea and the land interact in the shallow coastal zone which supports our human activities. Run in partnership with Natural Resources Wales, you will collect data that informs their strategic management of a Special Area of Conservation and a Site of Special Scientific Interest, gaining first hand career insight from industry professionals.

The UK is at the forefront of the development, adoption and export of Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) technologies. One of the advantages of studying at Bangor is our research-informed teaching. This gives you unique insight into the latest findings of our investigations into some of the biggest challenges for ORE.

Current research includes, for example, the £7.5 million ECOWind programme to understand how offshore wind turbines affects ecosystems and a Supergen project investigating subsea power cables to identify the causes of and to prevent future cable failure.

During your final year, you will also conduct your own research under staff guidance, delving into a topic of your choice and potentially supporting staff research. Previous students, for example, have investigated: Do waves or tides have the greatest influence on seabed mobility around windfarms; Geophysical signatures of underwater 'rivers' in the deep ocean; Do healthy coral reefs protect coasts from wave erosion?

By taking advantage of the optional placement year, you can gain additional extended, real-world work experience. For example, students will have placement opportunities within companies such as RWE Renewables and Natural Resources Wales.