Geophysics Graduate Certificate

The CU geophysics graduate certificate offers a coherent curriculum in geophysics that can complement and supplement a student's regular graduate degree program and encourages multi-disciplinary education in the area of geophysics. The Geophysics certificate program allows students to obtain recognition for their accomplishments in geophysics, without having to switch into the Geophysics degree program. Participation in the certificate must coincide with pursuit of an MS or PhD at the University of Colorado Boulder. This program was approved by the CU graduate school, spring 2002.

Description of Curriculum

All students must take at least 3 Geophysics Core Courses, and the Geophysics Seminar course, listed below. At least one of the three Geophysics Core Courses must be from the Earth and Planetary Physics (EPP) series, and at least one of the remaining core classes taken must be from outside the student's home department. Most geophysics core courses are offered once every two years.

A Certificate in Geophysics will be awarded upon the student's completion of degree requirements in their home department. Upon request from a student, the Program Director and the student's advisor will determine whether a student has met the requirements for the certificate and will generate a letter to the appropriate department head and Dean. The certificate is not intended as a substitute for a degree and will be awarded only upon completion of a graduate degree.

Geophysics Graduate Certificate Core Courses
ASTR/GEOL/PHYS6610Earth and Planetary Physics 1. (Seismology)
ASTR/GEOL/PHYS6620Earth and Planetary Physics 2. (Geodesy)
ASTR/GEOL/PHYS6630Earth and Planetary Physics 3. (Geodynamics)
ASTR/GEOL/PHYS6650Geophysics Seminar
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
ASTR/PHYS5140 (3)Astrophysical & Space Plasmas
ASTR/PHYS5150 (3)Plasma Physics
ASTR5300 (3)Magnetospheres
ASTR5400 (3)Introduction to Fluid Dynamics
ASTR/GEOL5800 (3)Planetary Surfaces and Interiors
ASTR/ATOC/GEOL5820 (3)Origin and Evolution of Planetary Systems
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
GEOG5100 (4)Advanced Remote Sensing (uses special topics course 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 [not currently offered]

Requirements for Certificate

  1. Completion with a grade of B or better of a total of three geophysics core courses (at least one from the EPP sequence) and one semester credit for the Geophysics Seminar.
  2. Completion of degree requirements for graduate degree within the student's home department, with a thesis on a topic that uses geophysics in some way, including the successful defense of this thesis before a committee that includes at least one of the geophysics faculty members with the advance approval of the chair of the geophysics program committee.

Admission Requirements

A student wishing to be considered for a Certificate in Geophysics must first be admitted as a graduate student into one of the participating graduate departments (ASENAPSCEAEECENGEOGGEOLMCENPHYS). Students from outside the participating departments can apply for entry to the geophysics certificate program by letter addressed to the Geophysics Graduate Program Committee. A student must have a course background that includes mathematics through three semesters of calculus and four undergraduate science or engineering courses.