The two year Master in Geology for Sustainable Development aims to provide in-depth cultural, technical and professional training in the field of Earth Sciences. The ultimate aim is to provide students with the cultural instruments and critical analysis skills required to enter the world of work and research, also through experimental practice in the field and in the laboratory.The aim of the programme is to train, through a sound basic and specific preparation, the professional figure of the Geologist who can apply for work at public and research organisations, institutions, companies, industries and professional firms, with skills in the following fields:- Geological and environmental hazard assessment for the purposes of risk prevention and mitigation, with particular reference to landslide phenomena, hydrogeological-hydraulic risk, eruptive processes and seismic events;- Geological and technical design and geology applied to engineering and spatial planning;- Characterisation, management and protection of groundwater resources and sustainable exploitation of aquifers to mitigate the effects of climate change;- Characterisation and remediation of contaminated sites;- Reconstruction of the stratigraphic architecture of geological bodies and reservoirs, with applications for the identification of aquifers and units of interest for energy resources;- Dynamics of depositional and palaeobiological systems in relation to climate change and anthropogenic impact;- Characterisation of the morpho-bathymetric and seismostratigraphic structure of submerged areas;- Definition of the physical and chemical properties of solid mineral resources through on-the-field surveying methods, laboratory analyses, and other direct and indirect techniques;- Identification, exploitation and sustainable management of primary and secondary mineral raw materials.The training is split into two curricula corresponding to different aspects of a Geologist's areas of expertise. Curriculum A concentrates primarily on the main techniques of geophysical exploration of the subsurface, numerical cartography and geological remote sensing, and on the principles of analysis, statistical processing and modelling of geological data, as well as cross-curricular competencies on the key role of Geosciences in the decarbonisation pathway that modern societies are required to take, on the sustainability and safety of all activities in modern energy supply chains, and on the actions to be implemented to mitigate the effects of climate change. Through its wide range of choice within subject groups covering geological-applicative, geological-structural and palaeontological-stratigraphic aspects, Curriculum A allows the development of competences relating to (i) hazard assessment and mitigation of geological and environmental hazards; (ii) engineering applications of geology; (iii) identification and protection of groundwater resources, (iv) geological characterisation of sedimentary bodies and reservoirs and associated resources, including in submerged areas, (v) evolution of depositional systems in response to climate change and anthropogenic impact. Curriculum B aims to train geo-resource specialists through the combination of geological-mineralogical-geochemical competencies, relating to the identification, physical-chemical characterisation and sustainable exploitation of primary and secondary mineral resources, and engineering (i.e. Life Cycle Assessment, Material Flow Analysis) and economic know-how for the evaluation of the role and impact of these resources in global supply chains and their recycling within a circular economy, also in close collaboration with industries and companies operating in the field of mineral resources.
