Undergraduate Course: Mathematical and computational methods in Geophysics (EASC09054)
Course Outline
| School | School of Geosciences |
College | College of Science and Engineering |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 9 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course introduces and develops mathematical and computational techniques commonly used in geophysics. The mathematics and computing are taught in an integrated manner so, for example, methods for finding an analytical solution to a differential equation are followed immediately by computing techniques for achieving the same aim. |
| Course description |
In this course, you will learn a range of core mathematical and computational methods that form the basis for future courses.
1. Solve a variety of mathematical problems as applied in a geophysical context
2. Learn the basis about coding in Python
3. Break scientific problems down into computationally tractable programs
4. Write clear, working, well documented programs in Python
5. Solve ordinary and partial differential equations using numerical techniques
6. Understand the basis of Monte Carlo methods
The learning experience will be varied, mixing practical programming classes with traditional lectures and problemsolving tutorials. Where practical, we will reinforce the ideas from the mathematical methods within the computational classes.
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Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Mathematics including partial differentiation and differential equations. |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2021/22, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 25 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 18,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 10,
Supervised Practical/Workshop/Studio Hours 30,
Feedback/Feedforward Hours 2,
Summative Assessment Hours 2,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
134 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
30 %,
Coursework
70 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Written Exam 30 %, Coursework 70 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Coursework 70%, exam 30%. The exam will test the mathematical skills more than the computational ones, the coursework will do the reverse. Assessed Coursework will consist of one computing exercise (50% of course) and one set of mathematics problems (20% of course) One further set of maths problems and one further computing exercises will be marked for formative purposes.
Formative Mathematics: Deadline Week 6
Assessed Mathematics: Deadline Week 9
For more information regarding deadlines, please refer to the learn page.
Assessment deadlines
¿ Formative Computation (Formative assessment) 1 ¿ Semester 1, Week 6 Wednesday, 12 noon
¿ Formative Mathematics (Formative assessment) 2 ¿ Semester 1, Week 7 Wednesday, 12 noon
¿ Assessed Mathematics: Semester 1, Week 10 Wednesday, 12 noon
¿ Assessed Computation: Semester 1, Wednesday Week 11, 12 noon
¿ Written Exam ¿ Semester 1, December Exam Diet
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| Feedback |
Mathematical problems will be set every week, discussed in the tutorial and answers provided thereafter. The computation sessions will be run as interactive coding classes which encourage discussion and exploration of individual problems. In addition to the assessed coursework, one further set of maths problems and one further computing exercises will be marked for formative purposes.
We have a Teams group for posting questions to so that they can be answered for the benefit of everyone ¿ this would be a great place to post things you are uncertain about for discussion.
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| Exam Information |
| Exam Diet |
Paper Name |
Hours & Minutes |
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| Main Exam Diet S1 (December) | | 1:30 | |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Solve a variety of mathematical problems as applied in a geophysical context
- Write clear, working, well documented programs in Python
- Solve ordinary and partial differential equations using numerical techniques
- Understand the basis of Monte Carlo methods
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Reading List
Sneider, R., Mathematical Methods for the Physical Sciences, 2004, Cambridge University Press, ISBN: 978-0-521-83492-6.
Turcotte, D.,L. and Schubert, G. Geodynamics. Cambridge University Press. ISBN: 0-521-66624-4.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Programming in a high-level computing language (Python) |
| Keywords | Mathematics,geophysics,heat flow,programming,python |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Mark Naylor
Tel: (0131 6)50 4918
Email: Mark.Naylor@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Katerina Sykioti
Tel: (0131 6)50 5430
Email: Katerina.Sykioti@ed.ac.uk |
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