Bedrock Geology: Evolution of the Biosphere, Palaeoecology and Palaeontology

This course offers an in-depth exploration of palaeontology and stratigraphy. You will learn about the development of life, from its earliest forms to today’s biodiversity. We will investigate how fossils can be used to answer geological questions and how new research has fundamentally changed our understanding of what can be preserved in the fossil record. This will be combined with an introduction to cutting-edge technology that has driven paradigm shifts in the field.

The course includes lectures, group work, and laboratory exercises. You will participate in decomposition experiments with modern plants and animals to understand the initial stages of fossilisation. The results will then be linked to the fossil record. The course also includes two shorter excursions and one longer field trip to world-famous fossil-rich deposits, as well as a studio where extinct organisms are reconstructed in three dimensions using state-of-the-art technology and the latest scientific findings.

Course content:

• The evolution and development of life
• The significance of fossils in geological research
• Decomposition experiments and taphonomic studies
• The evolution of marine and terrestrial ecosystems
• Stratigraphic methods and global correlation
• The geological timescale
• Field excursions to fossil-rich sites

Prerequisites

A minimum of 90 ECTS credits in Geology or Earth Science, including courses corresponding to GEOB21 Geology: Evolution of Life and Earth's Climate, 15 credits, GEOB22 Geology: Mineralogy and Petrology, 15 credits, GEOB23 Geology: Sedimentology, Geomorphology and Structural Geology, 15 credits, Geology: From the Ice Age to the Present and Swedish Regional Geology, 15 credits, and GEOB25 Geology in Society, 15 credits. English course 6/B

Selection criteria

Seats are allocated according to: ECTS (HPAV): 100 %.

Tuition fees for non-EU/EEA citizens

Citizens of countries outside:

• The European Union (EU)
• The European Economic Area (EEA) and
• Switzerland

are required to pay tuition fees. You pay an instalment of the tuition fee in advance of each
semester.

Tuition fees, payments and exemptions

Full programme/course tuition fee: SEK 42,500
First payment: SEK 42,500

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Note that you may also need to pay an application fee, or provide proof of exemption.

Application fee

No tuition fees for citizens of the EU, EEA and Switzerland

There are no tuition fees for citizens of the European Union (EU), the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland.