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  • One person in a laboratory outfit (mask, safety glasses, and lab coat) putting a sample into a lab appliance

    PhD student Priyanka Bose working in Dr. Megan S. Duncan’s Experimental Petrology Lab

  • One person standing next to and discussing a scientific poster

    Graduate student Ethan Conley presenting his poster during VT Hazards Research Day, April 2022, for which he won first place among student submissions

  • A group of students listening to explanations of a teacher, while standing on a big rock at the shore of a river

    Dr. Mark Caddick discussing melting and deformation of the lower crust during the Study Abroad program in the Maggia Valley, close to the Swiss-Italian border (October 2018)

  • Group of seven people sitting around a table in a conference room

    Computational Geofluids Lab led by Dr. Ryan Pollyea (not in photo) discussing managed aquifer recharge and injection-induced earthquakes

  • Scanning Electron Microscopy

    One person next to lab equipment and two monitors showing lab results

    Graduate Student Rui Serra Maia studies a sample on the Scanning Electron Microscope in Dr. F. Marc Michel’s Lab

  • Collage of four pictures showing a group of graduate students in robes, two students investigating specimen, several people beneath a dinosaur skeleton in the Museum of Geosciences and a group of people listening to a talk in the same Museum

    A balance of studies, research and outreach in the Geosciences Department

Our Graduate Program offers M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in one of our many Research Areas. We encourage interdisciplinary approaches to research in the geosciences, both within our department and in the other programs across the Virginia Tech campus.

Apply to our Graduate Program

For your graduate application you will need:

  • A one-to two-page, double-spaced personal statement.
  • A brief statement that describes your research interests and career aspiration in geosciences.
  • Resume/CV.
  • Transcripts from previous academic institutions.
  • Three letters of recommendation

(No GRE required)

The application deadline for fall admission is January 5th and for spring admission is September 1st. Prospective students are strongly encouraged to have all materials, including recommendation letters, submitted by the appropriate date for review.

Apply for Graduate Admission

Do you want to learn more?

We strongly encourage you to directly contact faculty in the research areas you are interested in pursuing, to determine whether there are open positions and to discuss possible research directions.

If you have more questions about becoming a geosciences major or the admissions process, please visit our advising page or contact: April Newcomer, Advising & Enrollment Manager, 540-231-8824 apriln@vt.edu

Current Graduate Student Resources