Teaching in physics and geosciences
Consultation hour (please register)
Thursday 9:00-10:00 Please register by e-mail to Norbert.Frank(at)uni-heidelberg.de or make an appointment by phone (+49 6221 546332). The consultation hour is also online.
We teach both physics and geosciences. Statistics (and R programming) is developed by Dr Martina Schmidt, and ‘The Physics and Chemistry of the Ocean’ is part of our geochemistry training. In physics, our focus is clearly on environmental physics (MKEP4). The bachelor seminar ‘Isotope Methods in Environmental Physics’ and the practical exercise (F55) ‘Rayleigh Fractionation’ have developed into a very successful series. Our course programme can be found on HeiCO. The materials on the corresponding Moodle pages. A list of student projects from previous years can be found on a separate page.
The current teaching programme
Summer semester 2024
* MKEP4 - Environmental Physics: This introductory lecture in environmental physics forms the basis for all further courses in this subject area as part of the Master's degree programme. The aim of the lecture is to provide a basic understanding of the physical processes and interactions within the Earth system. The properties and dynamics of the most important compartments of the environment, transport processes within and between them and their interaction in the climate system are covered. The lecture is divided into six chapters:
- Introduction (Earth's radiation balance, fluid advection and diffusion)
- Geophysical fluid dynamics (NSE, vorticity, turbulence, potential vorticity)
- Boundary layer and large-scale movement (law of the wall, Prandtl hypothesis, geostrophy, Sverdrup equilibrium)
- Isotopes and applications (fractionation, global meteoric water line, radiocarbon, Keeling assumption)
- Models and complexity (from simple box models to complexity, logistic map and bifurcation)
- Climate sensitivity and past climate
* PSEM Isotope methods (FORMAT: Attendance only) Content: Lectures on many classical topics of isotope methods in environmental physics, including the water cycle, the carbon cycle, and beyond to forensics. Topics include the transport and fractionation of water and carbon isotopes in the atmosphere, ocean and biosphere, and we include the use of radiocarbon as an environmental tracer.
* Journal Club Environmental Physics (FORMAT: face-to-face and online hybrid conferences) Content: fortnightly seminar to discuss recent publications relevant to the understanding of environmental physics - including climate change, carbon cycle, tipping points, climate engineering, etc. (Topics are chosen each semester by PhD students and Master students)
* Physics of Environmental Archives (FORMAT: face-to-face and online hybrid conference) Content: In this weekly seminar, we will discuss the team's scientific progress and evaluate recently published articles relevant to the understanding of present and past climate, as well as the chronology and isotope tracers tools we use. The seminar is aimed exclusively at Bachelor and Master students interested in working in the field of palaeoclimatology and geochemistry and assumes a comprehensive knowledge of the use of climate and environmental archives.