This course is jointly run with the Department of Chemical Engineering
Study at the interface of geoscience, engineering and geophysics, while developing all the skills you need to develop the sustainable hydrocarbon resources that will underpin our successful transition to a new economic model.
We will build your knowledge by examining the processes that govern the way sedimentary basins fill, and how an understanding of these complex three-dimensional systems can be usefully applied to improve models of petroleum systems in the subsurface.
Develop the key skills required to evaluate subsurface geology and use industry-standard software with real industry data sets.
The knowledge and techniques taught at Manchester are also directly applicable to developing subsurface technologies in geothermal energy, carbon capture and storage and network gas storage.
Course duration 12 months (full-time)
Total study time Approximately 30 hours per week of self-guided study
Teaching time Approximately 20 hours per week (inc. pre-recorded and live lectures, and practical exercises)
WHAT CAREER PATHWAYS ARE AVAILABLE TO ME?
The energy industry is the largest employer of Earth and environmental science graduates, and employs more than half of our recent graduating students. Good employment prospects exist within the UK and globally in energy companies, service companies, consultancies and government bodies.
Technical skills in subsurface investigation and quantification taught on the course are directly applicable to employment within the growing areas of CCS (carbon capture and storage), network gas storage, compressed air energy storage, geothermal and other extractive industries.

WHAT ROLES HAVE GRADUATES SECURED?
Our recent graduates have gone to work for companies including:
- Enegi Oil Plc
- Equinor
- Nigerian National
- Petroleum Corporation
- Petrostrat
- Tullow Oil
and have gone into roles such as:
- Geoscientist
- Geologists and Exploration Geologists
- Energy Consultants
- CCS Development Manager
- Data Engineers
and many more!
OUR STUDENTS' MSc PROJECTS
The MSc project is one of the most exciting parts of a master’s degree — you are paired with an expert supervisor and get a chance to dive deep into a topic you’re passionate about, solve real-world problems, and bring your ideas to life. It’s where everything you’ve learned comes together, showcasing your skills, creativity, and potential to stand out in your field. Here are some projects that our MSc graduates have worked on:

🔎 Effects of Wicking of Graphene Oxide Dispersion on Electric Conductivity of yarns
Focus on study how the size and morphology of graphene oxide effect on the dispersion and surface functionalization of yarns in relation to electric conductivity.

🔎 Development of multifunctional graphene/nylon nanocomposite fibres for wearable electronics Focused on the synthesis of electrically conductive, thermally stable, strong and flexible nylon-based nanocomposite fibres by melt-spinning, using nanomaterials such as graphene and carbon nanotubes as nanofillers.

🔎 Effect of graphene as an additive on carbon fibre reinforced composites Focused on evaluating the potential of incorporation of graphene as an additive to CFRPs to improve the electrical and/or mechanical properties of the CFRPs.

🔎 Influence of Fabric Properties on Clothing Thermal Comfort under Different Environmental Temperatures Investigate how fabric heat and moisture transfer properties influence the thermal comfort performance of clothing under different ambient temperatures by using advanced testing instruments and computational models.

🔎 Digitalize fabric hand and skin comfort properties for denim garments Studies how to digitize fabric hand and skin comfort properties for creating digital product passports and traceability of constituting materials from fibres and yarns.

🔎 Evaluation of the mechanical and thermal properties of glass Fibre-Reinforced Composites Modified with graphene nanoplatelets Explores how the incorporation graphene nanoplatelets to these composites can improve their improving mechanical properties and thermal conductivity through an enhancement of the interfacial bonding between fibres and polymer matrix.

🔎 Natural fibres as reinforcing fillers in Polylactic acid (PLA) composites Investigates how the mechanical and thermal properties of a PLA matrix can be improved and how the processing of such polymer is influenced with the addition of natural fibres into it.

🔎 From textile waste to yarn: mechanical fibre recovery for cotton-PET blended textiles Aims to establish a predictive model for fibre damage during mechanical opening processes and quantify the effect of loosening parameters on the damage rate of cotton and polyester fibres.

Johnathan Redfern Professor of Geoscience
Dept of Earth and Environmental Science
ACADEMIC'S VOICE
Our petroleum and geoscience MSc is an applied course, which provides students with a whole range of transferable skills they'll need if they go into industry after one year.
ALUMNI'S VOICE
My role now involves some project management of small to medium size projects, as well as technical work as a sedimentologist, and some work with data management.
My Masters degree gave me the tools I needed for this role, an understanding of key topics, software, and geological background which gave me a great backing to start learning on-the-job in industry.
Georgia Louise Mills
MSc Geoscience for Sustainable Energy
Class of 2022