• Arizona, USA

• Christchurch, New Zealand

Spend your third-year studying in Arizona, USA - the Grand Canyon State!

Our American exchange degrees involve spending the third year of a four-year MGeol degree at the University of Arizona. This option is for the following degree courses:

• MGeol Geology with a Year in North America
• MGeol Applied and Environmental Geology with a Year in North America
• MGeol Geology with Geophysics with a Year in North America
• MGeol Geology with Palaeobiology with a Year in North America

Arches National Park, Utah

This is an exciting opportunity for our undergraduates. To geologists, Arizona is one of the most interesting regions on the planet and contains many famous geological sites, including the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Meteor Crater, San Francisco Volcanic field, Painted Desert, Petrified Forest, Colorado Plateau, Sedona and Salt River canyons, rugged mountains of the Sonora Desert. The state also has an active mining industry. The University of Arizona has one of the top ranked geology departments in the USA (consistently in top 10) and provides a wide range of exciting modules to study which complement the curriculum at Leicester. Although the academic programme is challenging, the palm-lined Tucson campus has outdoor swimming pools, superb sports facilities and many student clubs and organisations to help students fill their time. In addition, Arizona is a state famous for many other tourist attractions, and Mexico, California, Colorado, Las Vegas and Utah are all a day’s drive (or less) away. Tucson is Arizona’s second largest city and boasts 340 days of sunshine a year and a vibrant nightlife. It is surrounded by stunning desert and mountain scenery, including the Saguaro National Monument. Directly behind the city the rugged Santa Catalina range is covered with cool forests and meadows in its upper reaches, and provides the city with a ski area in the winter!

The Grand Canyon, Arizona

Students who take this programme will broaden their geological knowledge and experience, which will benefit them in their educational development and career prospects. Entry requirements are the same as for all of our MGeol courses. To be considered for the Year Abroad requires a 60% average by the middle of the second year. Places are limited, and selection in the 2nd year is then based on academic thresholds determined by the department.

The programme is coordinated in Leicester by Dr Dickson Cunningham who was formerly a postgraduate at the University of Arizona and who can answer any further queries concerning entry, modules that can be taken, etc.

Monument Valley, Arizona

Spend your third-year studying in New Zealand!

We are now accepting students for our New Zealand exchange degree which involves spending the third year of a four-year MGeol degree at the University of Canterbury at Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand. This option is for the following degree course:

• MGeol Geology with a Year in New Zealand

Tongariro crossing, New Zealand © Dan Smith

This is an exciting new initiative for our undergraduates. New Zealand offers immense geological interest, set within world-renowned magnificent scenery, including the stunning Southern Alps, geothermal sites, mud pools and geysers, and the active volcanoes of the Taupo volcanic zone. The country also has active mining and geothermal industries. The University of Canterbury has an excellent geology department, and is situated within Christchurch, a small, leafy, English-style coastal city in sight of vast snow-capped mountains. It provides a wide range of exciting modules to study that will complement the curriculum at Leicester. The academic programme is challenging, and offers a diverse range of modules, including Antarctic Studies, Geoarchaeology, Hazards and Disaster Management, and New Zealand tectonics. In particular, there will be opportunities to study New Zealand geology first-hand during field classes, to both North and South Islands. The university has superb sports facilities and numerous student clubs that get students into the Great Outdoors - boating, trekking, climbing or biking.

Mud pots, New Zealand © Dan Smith

Students who take this programme will broaden their geological knowledge and experience, and this will benefit them in their educational development and career prospects. Entry requirements are the same as for all of our MGeol courses. To be considered for the Year Abroad requires a 60% average by the middle of the second year. Places are limited, and selection in the 2nd year is then based on academic thresholds determined by the department.

The programme is coordinated in Leicester by Dr Mike Branney who has links with the Canterbury University through his research in volcanology there, and who can answer any further queries concerning entry, modules that can be taken, etc.

View from Tongariro crossing, New Zealand © Dan Smith