Geophysics Ph.D. Course Requirements

  1. The three-semester Earth and Planetary Physics I, II, and III; 
  2. One semester of graduate-level applied mathematics (see "Approved Math Courses," below); 
  3. Irregularly scheduled seminars on topics in solid earth geophysics
  4. Additional courses of his or her own choosing (see 'Possible Additional Courses,' below).;

PhD Core Courses

DepartmentCourse NumberCourse Title
ASTR/GEOL/PHYS6610 (3)Earth and Planetary Physics 1. (Seismology)
ASTR/GEOL/PHYS6620 (3)Earth and Planetary Physics 2. (Geodesy)
ASTR/GEOL/PHYS6630 (3)Earth and Planetary Physics 3. (Geodynamics)
ASTR/GEOL/PHYS6650 (1-3)Geophysics Seminar

Approved Math Courses

DepartmentCourse NumberCourse Title
PHYS/MATH5030 (3)Intermediate Mathematical Physics 1
APPM5350 (3)Methods in Applied Mathematics: Fourier Series and Boundary Value Problems
ASTR5540 (3)Mathematical Methods
MCEN5020 (3)Methods of Engineering Analysis 1

 

Possible Additional Courses

The student must take additional courses of his or her own choosing. The CU Graduate School requires a total of at least 30 semester credit hours. It is expected that the student, in consultation with his or her thesis advisor, will choose courses that are compatible with the student's research interests. Possible courses could include, but are not restricted to, the following. (Grayed out courses are not currently in the catalog)

DepartmentCourse NumberCourse Title
APPM7300 (3)Nonlinear Waves and Integrable Equations
ASEN5050 (3)Space Flight Dynamics
ASEN5090 (3)Introduction to the Global Navigation Satellite Systems
ASEN5245 (3)Radar and Remote Sensing
ASEN5307 (3)Engineering Data Analysis Methods
ASEN5335 (3)Aerospace Environment
ASEN6090 (3)Advanced Global Navigation Satellite Systems Software and Applications
ASEN6519 (3)Special Topics: Advanced Astrodynamics and Celestial 
Mechanics
ASTR5300 (3)Magnetospheres
ASTR5400 (3)Introduction to Fluid Dynamics
ASTR/PHYS5140 (3)Astrophysical & Space Plasmas
ASTR/PHYS5150 (3)Plasma Physics
ASTR/GEOL5800 (3)Planetary Surfaces and Interiors
ASTR/ATOC/GEOL5820 (3)Origin and Evolution of Planetary Systems
ASTR5830 (3)Topics in Planetary Science
CVEN5131 (3)Continuum Mechanics and Elasticity
CVEN5718 (3)Mechanics and Dynamics of Glaciers
CVEN5768 (3)Introduction to Rock Mechanics
CVEN6595 (3)Earthquake Engineering
GEOG5231 (4)Physical Climatology: Field methods [no longer listed]
GEOG5100 (4)Advanced Remote Sensing (uses special topics number)
GEOL5093 (3)Remote Sensing of the Environment
GEOL5110 (3)Geomechanics
GEOL5550 (3)Petroleum Reservoir Characterization and Modeling
GEOL5690 (3)Tectonics of the Western U.S.
GEOL5714 (2)Field Geophysics
GEOL/PHYS6670 (3)Geophysical Inverse Theory
MCEN5023 (3)Solid Mechanics 1
MCEN7123 (3)Dynamics of Continuous Media [no longer in catalog]