In this seminar, students learn to search efficiently for scientific literature and to present scientific findings orally and in written form.

Essentials of scientific citing and research ethics. Preparation of a short scientific proposal describing the Bachelor Thesis project. Presentation of the project in a poster.

Studying carbon cycle variations in ancient sedimentary sequences is a 1-week course starting with a one day field excursion in northern Switzerland to describe and sample sedimentary facies in the field, followed-up in the lab by learning and applying different analytical techniques to identify changes in environmental conditions and the carbon cycle.

Climate history and paleoclimatology explores how the major features of the earth's climate system have varied in the past, and the driving forces and feedbacks for these changes. The major topics include the earth's CO2 concentration and mean temperature, the size and stability of ice sheets and sea level, the amount and distribution of precipitation, and the ocean heat transport.

Provides a basic introduction into Earth Sciences, emphasizing different rock-types and the geological rock-cycle, as well as introduction into geophysics, plate tectonics and planetology.

This course sensitises doctoral students to ethical issues that may occur during their doctorate. After an introduction to ethics and good scientific practice, students are familiarised with resources that can assist them with ethical decision-making. Students get the chance to apply their knowledge in a discipline specific context.

The potential for changes in the modern ocean thermohaline circulation remains a major uncertainty in projections of future anthropogenic climate impacts. In this reading course, we examine the paleoclimate evidence for past changes in AMOC and other significant ocean circulation systems, the triggers and the feedbacks on circulation change, on timescales from centuries to millions of years.

The surface Earth is often thought of as a set of interacting systems, often with feedbacks between them. These interacting systems control the tectonics, geomorphology, climate, and biology of the surface Earth. To fully understand the nature of the Earth System, including the controls on its past evolution, its present state, and its future, an integrated perspective is required.

The course provides an introduction to the key micropaleontological and molecular fossils from marine and terrestrial niches, and the use of these fossils for reconstructing environmental and evolutionary changes.

Changes in rainfall may constitute one of the strongest impacts of anthropogenic climate changes in many regions. In this reading course, we examine the paleoclimate evidence for past changes in flood frequency, drought incidence, fire frequency, and changes in precipitation systems.

The student will learn about how glacial, periglacial, fluvial, gravitational, and karst processes produce characteristic landforms and sediments. The student is introduced to subdivisions of the Quaternary, with a focus on climatic changes in the Alps. Competency in these themes is gained through practical exercises and discussion.Obligatory excursion: October 3, 2026.

The course will focus on biological amd chemical aspects of sedimentation in marine environments. Marine sedimentation will be traced from coast to deep-sea. The use of stable isotopes palaeoceanography will be discussed. Neritic, hemipelagic and pelagic sediments will be used as proxies for environmental change during times of major perturbations of climate and oceanography.