INVOGE Study Plan
A. Detailed program structure
INVOGE lasts two academic years, taking no longer than any individual existing masters degree. A student entering any of the four home institutions will spend at least one academic year (9-12 months) at one transatlantic institution.
- For the US candidates, this means spending two semesters at one EU partner with a concurrent shorter period at the other EU institution where 10 ECTS of coursework, usually undertaken as thesis work, will combine with linguistic and cultural activities.
- EU students will spend at least 2 semesters in the US, and a summer for work on their thesis and field course options.
- The degree is a 2 years Master amounting to 120 ECTS or 30 credits US. The normal course loads are 30 ECTS/semester at UBP and UMB, 9 credits at MTU and 12 credits at UBuffalo. We adopt conversions of 3.3 ECTS to 1 MTU and 2.5 ECTS to 1 UBuffalo. In addition, the degree supplement will provide a description of the US credit equivalence, to aid prospective employers.
B. Detailed content of program
There is a broad range of Geology subjects available for each student that cover, the largest possible range with volcanology and geotechnical specialities. This allows the student to pick general and specialised options to suit their profile. The course lists are provided here.
INVOGE Partner Expertise
The four partner universities make up a sizable geological community including nearly 100 faculty, more than 100 PhD students, about 150 Masters and more than 400 undergraduates in addition to numerous staff scientists and specialists. There are many specialized laboratories and numerous international students and collaborations. The specific areas of expertise are listed below, and the web page links allow for further exploration. There are already many collaborations involving multiple partners, but we expect the numerous INVOGE exchanges to build a much denser network among students and travelling faculty.
| University partner | Research emphasis | Field links |
| _Volcanology Identities_ | ||
|---|---|---|
| Michigan Tech | Remote Sensing, Volcano/Atmosphere, Seismology, Geomagnetics | Central America, Africa, Indonesia, US volcano observatories |
| U Buffalo | Volcanic Hazards, Numerical Modelling, Surficial Processes, Fluid Dynamics | South and Central America, West Indies |
| UBP Clermont Ferrand | Geo Experiments, Petrology/Geochemistry, Volcano Tectonics | Reunion, Italy, West Indies, South and Central America, Vanuatu |
| U Milan-Bicocca | Volcano Instability, Geology of volcanoes, Structural geology applied to volcanic hazards | Greece, South America, Central America, Philippines |
| _Geotechnique Identities_ | ||
| Michigan Tech | Hydrogeology, Applied Geophysics, Geoenvironmental Eng | US Great lakes hydrology, Salt water intrusion, major work in Desert Mexico |
| U Buffalo | Hydrogeochemistry, Biogeochemistry, Near surface geophysics | Pollutant transport on many scales |
| UBP Clermont Ferrand | Geological Materials, Subsurface Geology and Geophysics, Applied Hydrogeology in volcanic domains | Industry-oriented projects |
INVOGE Application Procedure
This program is intended for incoming Masters students. One goal of the INVOGE program is language immersion; therefore, an acceptable knowledge of English is required for EU students, as all US courses will be taught in English, and US students should have some skill in the language of their host institution, as most classes in the EU are taught in the host language.
Students must be accepted to a Masters program at one of the four institutions participating in INVOGE. Eligible EU students must be citizens of the EU or third-country nationals who have been legal residents in the EU for at least three years before the start of the outgoing mobility. Eligible US students must be citizens or permanent residents of the US. Eligible occupants should also hold a bachelors (or equivalent) degree in geosciences, although highly-motivated, non-geology students will be considered if they can prove that their sufficient background and motivation. Successful applicants will be ambitious, motivated and have excellent recommendations from faculty at their home institution and/or other mentors. INVOGE involves a commitment to acquiring new language and cultural skills in addition to geologic study, and students should be prepared to adapt to the standards and expectations of program members outside their home institutions.
Prospective Michigan Tech applicants should contact:
Dr William Rose, MTU raman@mtu.edu (US coordinator)
Dr Simon Carn, MTU scarn@mtu.edu
Clermont-Ferrand students should contact:
Dr. Benjamin Van Wyk De Vries, UBPascal b.vanwyk@opgc.univ-bpclermont.fr (EU coordinator) and/or visit the program application website.
Buffalo students should contact:
Dr. Eliza Calder (ecalder@buffalo.edu)
Milan students should contact:
Dr Alessandro Tibaldi (alessandro.tibaldi@unimib.it).