Department of Geoscience

Excursions and mapping courses BSc and MSc Geosciences

Introduction

Field teaching is important in geosciences and we therefore endeavour to offer a wide variety of excursions, field practicals and mapping courses. We hope this page will help you to find a way to what is on offer and how to register for these courses.

Please visit this page regularly to see if there are any announcements regarding excursions and mapping courses. I will do my best to keep you up to date.

Also check the Fachschaft page https://www.fs-geowissenschaften.uni-tuebingen.de/joomla3/index.php/exkursionen-und-feste

In case you run into trouble, for example because of cancelled excursions, please contact Paul Bons by email.

Your field-modules coordinator, Paul Bons.

Field safety

Code of Conduct (Download)

Information regarding risks of tick-borne encephalitis (FSME)

Your health and safety is always our concern, whether in the classroom, the laboratory or in the field. State health and safety regulations make it mandatory to inform you on the risks of tick-borne encephalitis (FSME in German: Frühsommer-Meningoenzephalitis).

The Science Faculty will organise a number of on-line information sessions.

You must attend one of these! Students who have not attended one are not allowed to go on any field trips!

In winter term 2022-2023 there are four sessions on offer:

  • Thursday, 03/11/2022, 14:00 - 14:45 (in German)
  • Monday, 07/11/2022, 14:00 - 14:45 (in English)
  • Friday, 11/11/2022, 11:00 - 11:45 (in German)
  • Monday, 14/11/2022, 11:00 - 11:45 (in English)

For proof of attendance, you must have your student-ID number ready at the event. You should have received the link to the Zoom-sessions separately. If not, please contact Peter Merkel or your module coordinator, Paul Bons.

COVID

We cannot predict how the pandemic will develop in 2023. Currently it looks like our field teaching can proceed with no or only minor restructions. Still, all should please act responsibly and adhere to any rules and regulations that may be announced in the future.

Permanent information about excursions and mapping courses

Geoscience field modules covered by this page

Students can register online for excursions and mapping courses. This covers the following modules:

BSc-Geosciences

  • B205/B405: module Field Practicals (Geländeübungen). 6 credits for 18 excursion days, including the 4-day stratigraphisches Geländepraktkum
  • B403: Geological Maps and Cross Sections (Geologische Karten und Profile): This 9-credit module contains a ca. 14-day (6 credits) mapping course that takes place at the end of 4th semester

 MSc-Geosciences

  • M304: Module Field Practicals. 6 credits for 18 excursion days
  • M305: Module Advanced Field Methods in Geosciences 1. 6 credits for a ca. 14-day advanced mapping course.
  • MSc-students can optionally do two mapping courses (of course not the same one twice). A second mapping course module M320 is available for this. please note that a second mapping course is conditional on available places. Please contact the excursion leader in time.

BSc-students CANNOT do two mapping courses. Even if you attend two such courses, only one will count for your degree. Mapping courses are not the same as excursions. Only in exceptional cases can a mapping course be accredited to the module Field Practicals. However, a 14-day mapping course then only counts as 8 field days.

How to register for field courses

First you must register here to be able to access the courses. You need to be within the University network or use the VPN Client provided by the ZDV.

Once you are registered you can log in to see the list of excursions and mapping courses that are offered. Basic information (dates, costs, destination, etc.) can be found on the website. Some lecturers may have provided more information in a PDF that can be downloaded, or on a website for which you will find the link. You can also see how many students have already registered for a particular course. This will help you to see which courses are popular and oversubscribed.

You must then register separately for

  • Mapping courses (internal link)
  • Excursions, including the stratigraphisches Geländepraktikum (internal link)

Please note the deadlines!
Each course may have a different deadline. You can change your registration at any time until the deadline.

For each MAPPING COURSE you choose from one of four options:

  1. I absolutely need to go to this mapping course (*). This means you must go to this one and cannot go to any other course that is offered.
  2. I would like to go to this course.
  3. I could go to this course if necessary, but I prefer another one. Some courses are oversubscribed and then, unfortunately, some students will have to transfer to another course.
  4. I absolutely cannot go to this course (*). If your preferred mapping course is oversubscribed, you cannot be transferred to this course.

(*) If you choose options (1) or (4) you must provide a brief reason. This could be that you attended this course before, for example.

We do our best to provide every student with their preferred options, but cannot always satisfy everyone's wishes. Note that only one mapping course is compulsory for BSc-students in Geosciences. You can only do an extra second one if the course leader agrees to this, but you have no right to a second course and will be lowest priority.

For each EXCURSION you choose from the following options:

  1. I absolutely need to go to this excursion. This means you must go to this one for some reason and you need to explain why.
  2. I would like to go to this excursion.
  3. I don't want to go to this excursion.

Some excursions are oversubscribed. It is therefore good to register for one or more "back-up" excursions. Excursion leaders of oversubscribed excursions will do their Vorbesprechung first and select the students that can go on their excursion. Please note that if you already have enough excursion days for your module, you have lowest priority!

Any problems or questions?

Please contact or email:

  • The course leader, if you have questions about a particular course,
  • Paul Bons, only if you have questions about excursions and mapping courses in general. I have no information on individual courses, nor on which course has places available. Only the course leaders know these things!

Two mapping courses are planned for 2023:

  • BSc: Molinos, Spain, The BSc-mapping course will probably take place late September, possibly going into October, organised by Paul Bons. Priority is given to BSc-students who will then be in their 4th or higher semester. Note that this trip consists of the mapping course and 3 additional excursion days that can count for your excursions module.
  • MSc maping course 2021: A "geology-oriented" MSc-mapping course in the Appennines, Italy, will  be offered in 2023. More information to be posted in due time. A mapping course that is more "mineralogy and petrology oriented" will again be offered in 2024.

The Molinos course is intended for all BSc-students in their 4th (or higher) semester in summer 2023, so who started their studies in WS 2021-2022 or before. Students that enrolled in WS 2022-2023 must do their BSc-mapping course in Molinos in 2024.

If, for some reason, you absolutely cannot attend the course that is intended for you, please register for the other course and contact the course leader.

Please note: a mapping course is not the same as an excursion. Therefore not all field days of a mapping course can be transferred to count as excursion days  instead of a mapping course. The maximum number is 8 excursion days. Please contact the Module Coordinator (Paul Bons) if you have questions.  

Only MSc-students can attend two mapping courses (but of course not to the same area).

 

Please remember to cancel your registration if you do not want to attend an excursion any more.
This helps the lecturers a lot!

Finally: Please make sure that the excursion leader signs for the excursion days in your excursion pass. Once you have the required number of excursion days, your pass has to be signed off by the module coordinator: currently Paul Bons.

Make sure you get the final signature well in time, not just before the end of semester, as this is March or September, when the coordinator is likely to be away for fieldwork or other duties when there are no classes. Only the coordinator can sign your pass!

If you collected more than the required days in your BSc and continue in MSc, the excess days can count for your MSc. Please keep your BSc-excursion pass.

Excursion days from other universities (for example from Erasmus exchanges) can count for your excursion module. What is needed is a written and signed statement of the excursion leader, stating the number of days and a brief description of the excursion. The module coordinator (Paul Bons) can then sign for these days in your excursion pass.

Your module coordinator, Paul Bons