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2024-2025 Academic Calendar | York University Faculty of Graduate Studies

Earth & Space Science

Posted on 17 August 2022

All Programs

LocationEmail AddressProgram Website
101 Petrie Science & Engineeringessgpa@yorku.calassonde.yorku.ca/esse/academics/graduate/

The Graduate Program in Earth & Space Science, and its predecessors, is one of York University’s founding graduate programs. The program is housed within the Department of Earth and Space Science and Engineering and is tightly connected with the Centre for Research in Earth and Space Science (CRESS), founded in 1965. For over half a century, faculty members and graduate researchers have combined talent from areas such as Earth science, atmospheric science, space science, physics, chemistry, mathematics, computer science, and more recently, planetary science, space engineering, and geomatics engineering, to attain novel scientific and engineering goals. Major impactful outcomes range from planetary exploration missions, atmospheric and climate models, to new understandings of Geodynamics.

Currently, our resources and experience are pooled in comprehensive, fundamental and applied, experimental, observational and theoretical research programs in remote sensing of the Earth’s surface and atmosphere, atomic and molecular species that play important roles in the energetics of the Earth’s atmosphere (in meteorology and aeronomy), other planetary atmospheres and surfaces, and a wide range of geospatial data collection, analysis and representation.

Research is done in the following major areas:

  • Atmospheric and Climate Science
  • Geomatics Science and Engineering
  • Space Science and Engineering

Prospective MSc and PhD students and postdoctoral fellows find that the program’s research programs provide an excellent vehicle for training, research, and experiential learning. Most of the program’s faculty members are involved in significant industrial and/or public sector research projects, which afford outstanding learning and career advancement opportunities for our students. Students are involved in many terrestrial, unmanned aerial vehicle, aircraft, balloon, and upper atmosphere satellite studies of the Earth’s surface and its atmosphere and planetary missions; and the design, development and testing of space instrumentation for Earth and planetary missions. Major specialized research equipment includes an attached two-dome astronomical observatory equipped with twenty-four and twelve-inch reflecting telescopes; a remote sensing lidar observatory; an aeronomy observatory; an airborne imaging spectrometer for remote sensing research; mass-spectrometer facilities; a ‘chemical’ heavy ion accelerator for ion-molecule reactions; laser facilities; microdensitometers; space environment test facilities; a microfabrication lab; multiple Earth remote sensing labs, GIS labs, and satellite and inertial navigation labs.

Admission Requirements

MSc

PhD

Graduates with an honours degree, or equivalent, in chemistry, physics, pure or applied mathematics, astronomy, engineering, or engineering physics from a recognized university, with at least B standing (no lower than second class honours in an honours degree from a British University), may be admitted as candidates for the MSc degree, which normally requires at least 12 months to complete.

Graduates with a master’s degree in chemistry, physics, pure or applied mathematics, astronomy, engineering, or engineering physics from a recognized university, with at least B standing, may be admitted as candidates (PhD I) in a program leading to the PhD degree. On the average, candidates with a BSc degree, or equivalent, may expect to spend three to five years to complete the requirements for the PhD degree. Graduates with an honours degree in chemistry, physics, pure or applied mathematics, astronomy, engineering, or engineering physics may be considered for admission to the program leading to the PhD degree. However, such graduates must first register as candidates for the MSc degree. If their progress is satisfactory they may be transferred into the PhD program and advanced in status to candidates (PhD I) for the PhD degree, after one year, and on the recommendation of their research supervisor and the Graduate Program Director.

Degree Requirements

MSc

PhD

MSc

Candidates for the MSc degree by thesis must fulfil the following requirements:

Courses

In addition to successfully completing the required Research Evaluation courses Earth & Space Science 6030 3.0, candidates must successfully complete two full graduate courses (12 credits), or equivalent of which up to three credits may be from the Research Evaluation courses Earth & Space Science 6030 3.0. Students may be required to take a further half-course, if the supervisory committee determines that this is necessary to strengthen a student’s background in the thesis area.

Thesis and Oral Examination

a) All entering candidates plan a research program with their supervisor at the start of their degree studies, and conduct the research under the general direction of their supervisor and supervisory committee and describe it in an appropriate thesis. The research and thesis should demonstrate the candidate’s research ability in the area of investigation. After the formal submission of the thesis, an oral examination, centred on the thesis-research, is held. Prior to the oral examination each candidate delivers a formal lecture on her or his research work. Acceptable thesis formats in the MSc program include monograph or manuscript-based formats.

b) Research progress is monitored by meetings of the supervisory committee with the candidate and by an annual progress report consisting of a written paper and a public oral presentation normally in May or June. Satisfactory progress results in credit for Earth & Space Science 6030 3.0 (Research Evaluation) and a statement of the candidate’s progress in the candidate’s record. In the event of failure to achieve satisfactory progress the student will normally be required to withdraw from the program.

Candidates for the MSc degree may take the three full courses and research exercise option instead of the thesis option on the recommendation of the Graduate Program Director. The requirements are:

Research Exercise Option

Candidates must successfully complete three full courses and must also conduct an exercise in research procedures and report on it in an appropriate manner. The selection of graduate courses and of the topic of the research exercise must be arranged in consultation with the Graduate Program Director.

Four Course Option

Candidates must successfully complete four full graduate courses selected in consultation with the Graduate Program Director.

There is no foreign language requirement for the MSc degree but candidates must give satisfactory evidence to the Graduate Program in Earth & Space Science of an ability to program and use electronic digital computers for the solution of non-trivial scientific problems. English proficiency requirements, where applicable, can be found at futurestudents.yorku.ca/graduate.

The MSc program can be completed on a full- or part-time basis. Entry is fall, winter or summer term.

The expected degree completion time for full-time master’s students is normally 6 terms. However, students can complete the requirements sooner. For those students who complete degree requirements earlier than 3 terms, they must register and pay fees for a minimum of the equivalent of 3 terms of full-time study. Beyond 6 terms, a master’s student must be part-time status. All requirements for a master’s degree must be fulfilled within 12 terms (4 years) of registration as a full-time or part-time master’s student in accordance with Faculty of Graduate Studies’ registration policies.

PhD

Candidates (PhD I & II) for the PhD degree must fulfil the following requirements:

Candidates must successfully complete three full graduate courses, or equivalent, including two required Research Evaluation courses:
Earth & Space Science 6030 3.0 and Earth & Space Science 7030 3.0.

A credit for two full courses, including fulfillment of the Earth & Space Science 6030 3.0: Research Evaluation course requirement, may be granted normally to candidates who hold an MSc degree from York University or another recognized university. Candidates granted credit for two full courses as outlined above must successfully complete Earth & Space Science 7030 3.0 and one other half course (which may not include Earth & Space Science 6030 3.0).

In addition to the requirements outlined above, candidates may be required to take a further half course, if the supervisory committee determines that this is necessary to strengthen a candidate’s background in the thesis area.

a) All entering candidates (PhD I) plan a research program with their supervisor at the start of their degree studies, and must successfully complete a significant piece of research, under the general direction of a supervisor and a supervisory committee, in one of the six major areas offered by the program, and describe it in an appropriate dissertation. The research must be of such a standard that it will be acceptable for publication in the scientific literature. After the formal submission of the dissertation, an oral examination is held, centred on the dissertation-research. As part of the oral examination exercises candidates deliver a formal lecture on their research work after which they meet with their examiners. Acceptable dissertation formats in the PhD program include monograph or manuscript-based formats.

b) Research progress is monitored by meetings of the Supervisory Committee with the candidate and by an annual progress report consisting of a written paper and a public oral presentation normally in May or June. Satisfactory progress results in credit for Earth & Space Science 7030 3.0 (Research Evaluation) and a statement of the candidate’s progress in the candidate’s record. In the event of failure to achieve satisfactory progress the candidate will normally be required to withdraw from the program.

A candidate (PhD I & II) must give satisfactory evidence to the Graduate Program in Earth & Space Science of an ability to program and use electronic digital computers for the solution of non-trivial scientific problems, or, with the permission of the Graduate Program Director, may give satisfactory evidence of an ability to translate scientific literature from a foreign language. English proficiency requirements, where applicable, can be found at futurestudents.yorku.ca/graduate/programs/earth-and-space-science.

The PhD program can be completed on a full- or part-time basis. Entry is fall, winter or summer term.

Normal degree completion time for full-time PhD students is 12 terms (4 years). Doctor of Philosophy students must register and pay fees for a minimum of the equivalent of 6 terms of full-time registration. All requirements for a doctoral degree must be fulfilled within 18 terms (6 years) of registration as a full-time or part-time doctoral student in accordance with Faculty of Graduate Studies’ registration policies.