Geotechnology
Bachelor's degree programme in Geotechnology - Student life
A typical first-year week
During the first two years, you have approximately 20 scheduled hours of lessons per week. You also spend at least 20 hours on preparation, assignments and your reading group. At a later stage of your studies, the number of scheduled hours decreases as the time spent on independent study increases.
Studying at university is a full-time job, but you fortunately also have breaks from time to time. As a geotechnology student, you quickly become a part of the study environment at the Department of Earth Sciences, which is characterised by excellent teamwork between the students. This teamwork is largely due to the limited number of students enrolled per year and especially the field excursions that bring people together.
Both the university and the engineering college have Friday bars, celebrations and associations that organise many interesting academic and social activities.
Being a student is hard work, but also fun!
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| General chemistry, lecture | Calculus, mathematics laboratory, teamwork | |||
| Calculus, mathematics, theoretical tasks, classroom lesson | Introduction to geotechnology, lecture | Introduction to geotechnology, theoretical tasks, classroom lesson | ||
| Introduction to geotechnology, lecture | General chemistry, theoretical tasks, classroom lesson | |||
| General chemistry, theoretical tasks, classroom lesson | ||||
| Calculus, mathematics, lecture | Calculus, mathematics, lecture | General chemistry, lecture | ||
| General chemistry, laboratory exercises, teamwork | ||||
An exciting study environment
The University of Aarhus has more than 20,000 students, and they contribute to a lively student environment both on campus and in the city. As a geotechnology student, you become part of a well-established study environment. About one third of your lessons are taught at the Engineering College of Aarhus and the rest at the Faculty of Science at the university. You therefore become part of two interesting study environments.
The technical part of your degree programme is taught at the Engineering College, which has 1,500 students. This is where you have the opportunity to try out your knowledge in practice. The theoretical part mainly takes place at the Faculty of Science, which has no fewer than 3,500 students, and is mainly based in the different buildings surrounding the attractive University Park.
As a first-year geotechnology student, you are based in recently fitted out buildings on the south-eastern side of the University Park – the part of the campus that is closest to the centre of the city. The building complex has reading rooms, study areas, Internet access and computer rooms. These facilities are also used for general departmental activities and you therefore soon get to know your teachers and learn about their research activities.
Teaching
You quickly discover that your work as a geotechnology student is extremely different from what you were used to at upper secondary school. As a university student, you are personally responsible for your learning and attendance is not compulsory. Teaching is a combination of lectures and classroom lessons, but you also complete assignments, write reports and naturally have a fair amount of independent preparation – which requires a good deal of self-discipline. In addition, you have laboratory experiments, field and model studies as well as field trips. In short, your everyday life is interesting and very varied.
Reading groups
Most students form reading groups with other students at the beginning of their studies. These groups normally consist of 2–5 students who discuss, read and prepare assignments together. A reading group provides academic support and helps you develop good study habits. At the beginning of your studies, it can be hard to get used to all the reading and to “being a student”. It can easily take a few months before you settle into a rhythm that suits you.