Why study GeoEnergy at Edinburgh?
- We pioneered the first GeoEnergy MSc in the World. This evolved from our MSc in Carbon Capture and Storage, also a world first.
- Our programme offers training directly aligned with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals.
- We have specifically designed this MSc to explore a wide range of energy topics, giving you opportunities for a varied career path.
- We are proud of the diverse nature of the programme. Although most students join us with geosciences backgrounds, we have also welcomed engineers, geographers, and chemists in the past.
- You will join one of the largest groups of geoscientists in the UK, whose work supports global initiatives to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy.
- Our programme shares connections with government departments, energy-relevant NGOs, and key industry players, from multinational energy companies to start-up geothermal energy companies.
Online Information Session
Watch the recording of our online Information Session (19th Feb), hosted by Programme Director Dr Stuart Gilfillan.
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Pre-arrival reading list
Your courses
This MSc programme comprises:
- compulsory and option courses
- dissertation
Courses are delivered by staff who are active researchers in each field.
Their expertise is supplemented by selected guest speakers from the industry or other related research organisations.
You can find out more about compulsory and optional courses on the Degree Programme Tables (DPTs). Please note that the information on the current DPTs is for academic year 2024-25 and is subject to change in future years. The DPTs for academic year 2025-26 will be published in April 2025.
Read more about selecting optional courses on the applicant website.
Your dissertation
We will work with you throughout your studies to prepare you for the dissertation project. This will be your opportunity to explore a topic of your choice in relation to the programme and prepare a dissertation that you can use to demonstrate your knowledge to potential employers. Previous topics that have been studied include:
- Assessing the capacity for hydrogen storage and renewable linking in the USA
- Assessing the potential for CO2 storage in the East Irish Sea basin
- What offshore storage capacity for hydrogen is available to the UK in the Southern North Sea and can it be linked to an offshore renewable source?
- Are the current standard leakage mitigation and remediation approaches suitable for hydrogen leakage in the near surface?
- Modelling of microbial growth and corresponding permeability reduction in the subsurface
Where will you be taught?
The MSc GeoEnergy is taught at the King's Buildings campus, which is around 15 minutes from central Edinburgh.
Depending on the option courses you choose, you may study at various campus locations in Edinburgh.
Our innovative GeoEnergy degree
Field trips/excursions
We have a residential field trip to the world-famous Scottish Highlands. We will spend a week looking at analogues for the rocks that we will use in the subsurface for GeoEnergy applications including CCS, energy storage, nuclear waste disposal and maintaining a clean water supply.
We organise several cohort-wide events throughout the year, starting with a visit to an energy related site in Welcome Week. Last year we went to the National Mining Museum of Scotland, to look at the history of fossil GeoEnergy in Scotland. Then we have 1 or 2 half days out at the start of semester, all with a general theme of energy and the subsurface. In the second semester, we visit places as diverse as Edinburgh’s ‘Our Dynamic Earth’, one of Scotland’s top tourist attractions and an important educational resource; and an old lead-mining district where we can pan for gold!
Scholarships
School of GeoSciences scholarships
Scholarships and student funding
You can find funding opportunities, tuition fees and costs of living for prospective UK and international postgraduate students on the University website.
You are also encouraged to undertake your own research into the range of potential scholarships and other funding outside the University for which you may be eligible.
Future of your subject
GeoEnergy technologies are critical for the energy transition to a low carbon future. For example, carbon capture and storage is the only current technology that can decarbonise the production of cement and steel, both of which are large sources of greenhouse gases. These technologies are essential to maintain a habitable Earth, or at least one with conditions resembling the ones which we are used to.
Multi Story Edinburgh Podcast - Stella
Our University 'Multi Story' podcast is all about the reality of the graduate experience.
MSc GeoEnergy graduate, Stella, shares experiences of working in the field, masters as a mindset and knowing your worth:
Careers
The MSc GeoEnergy provides a range of career opportunities in this emerging industry and the ability to work toward a low-carbon future.
We will equip you with the latest knowledge and skills required to use subsurface geological expertise for future GeoEnergy applications. This will open a diverse range of career pathways in GeoEnergy technologies and the disposal of energy-related wastes.
Our graduates have been very successful in gaining employment worldwide in a variety of public and private sector organisations.
Some examples include:
- Element Energy
- The Environmental Protection Group Ltd
- Flexitricity
- British Geological Survey
- Wood Mackenzie
- Ikon Science
- Wardell Armstrong LLP
Alumni
We have a thriving global network of alumni living and working around the world. As well as individual MSc programme networks, the School of GeoSciences has a large alumni network, which you can join after graduation.
You'll have the opportunity to engage with and learn from like minded individuals who can offer advice about shaping your career path.
You can read our alumni profiles to find out more about our graduates experiences throughout their studies and beyond on our website.
If you prefer to watch a video, you can watch our alumni interviews on YouTube.
Your programme director and cohort lead.
Find out more about your programme director and cohort lead
Dr. Stuart Gilfillan
The programme director for our MSc in GeoEnergy is Stuart Gilfillan. Stuart's research is primarily aimed at developing geochemical tracing tools for GeoEnergy applications. His early research focused on investigating the potential for noble gases and stable isotopes to be used as tracers for CO2 monitoring within CO2 storage sites and as early warning tracers of unplanned CO2 migration.
More recently, Stuart has been applying this knowledge to the environmental monitoring of both conventional and unconventional hydrocarbon extraction, geothermal energy provision and the mineralisation of CO2, whilst maintaining an interest in the geochemical evolution of the Earth's mantle. Stuart is currently actively collaborating with the Carbfix project in Iceland.
Outside of work, Stuart is a keen mountain biker and enjoy the variety of trails in and around the Edinburgh area and mountains that Scotland has to offer.
Dr. Mark Wilkinson
The cohort lead for the programme is Mark Wilkinson. Mark undertakes research on geological energy storage and waste disposal, including:
- Hydrogen storage in porous rocks, with RCUK funded project HyStorPor (https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/hystorpor/) and the EU-funded HyUSPRe (https://www.hyuspre.eu); Geological carbon storage in 5 EU countries (Spain, France, Portugal, Greece, Poland) with PilotSTRATEGY (https://pilotstrategy.eu);
- Compressed air energy storage in porous rocks
- Natural analogues for what will happen to CO2 when it is injected into a rock for Carbon Capture and Storage
- Safe disposal of water produced during CO2 storage operations
- Diagenesis, or what happens to sediments as they are buried and turn into rocks. In practice I study the suitability of reservoirs for different applications including CO2 storage, energy storage or water supply.
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