Bachelor of Science in Geosciences and Environment

After high school, I decided to go to EPFL to study civil engineering. The workload was very heavy and meant that I had to drastically reduce my extra-curricular activities. At the end of that complicated year, I decided to spend two and a half years in the army. After that, I was ready to return to the academic world with new working methods, and chose to join the Faculty of Geosciences and Environment at the University of Lausanne.

What's great about this course is that you really go from the general to the specific. The first semester is the same for everyone, and then each student can choose an orientation (geography, environmental sciences or geology). The idea is to use this first semester to understand what is expected of us. Then, as time goes by, we'll really move towards disciplines that are closer to the chosen direction, while keeping branches like numerical modelling or physics in the second year to maintain a variety of content studied. In geology, each year consists of a course-laden first semester, followed by a second where the emphasis is on field camps. This is a huge opportunity, as it gives you an exceptional understanding of the subject being taught!

In geology, there are usually between fifteen and twenty students, which is really great for the atmosphere! Presentations are often given in small groups, and from the second semester onwards, we already have field camps. It's all really bonding! There are several field camps during the course, in the second semester of each year: for example, in the 3rd year, we'll have one in Switzerland where we'll be doing geophysical surveys, then a ten-day camp in Morocco, followed by ten days in the Alps in June. These camps are also designed to be financially accessible, and provide an opportunity to develop exceptional contact with the teaching staff. At the Faculty of Geosciences and the Environment, their doors are always open and students are welcome to come and ask questions.

Initially, I wanted to do palaeontology, but I soon realised that the professional and academic opportunities in this field are fairly limited in Switzerland. Then I discovered the new Masters in Earth Sciences that the Ecole Lémanique des Sciences de la Terre has set up, which allows you to specialise in one of the four themes on offer. My plan is to follow this course, specialising in risk analysis or sedimentology. This decision will depend on what I want to do in the future, because risk analysis will lead me directly into an engineering practice, whereas sedimentology will lead me more towards a PhD. I advise future students to choose studies that they enjoy, but also to think about the professions that they will be able to practice later on. That said, there are some professions that you discover as you study, so you shouldn't worry too much about that!

After graduating from high school, I went to acting school in Vancouver for a year, and then enrolled in architecture at EPFL. I quickly realised that what I really wanted to do was to create spaces in which people could live, which is more in line with the geography curriculum at UNIL. So I applied for a transfer within two days, and that's how I ended up in the Faculty of Geosciences and the Environment!

At the end of the first semester of the Bachelor's degree in geosciences and environment, students must choose one of three options: geography, environmental sciences or geology. In the second semester, those who have opted for geography choose between physical or human geography. Personally, I chose human geography, which I would define as the study of the relationship between humans and their environment. For example, we'll be studying living spaces, but it also touches on social and political sciences, migration and flows, regional planning and so on. One module includes maths, but you can do well even if, like me, you're not very good at the hard sciences! There are also a lot of free credits, which means you can explore lots of other subjects that interest you, even in other faculties. For example, I took several language courses, which I loved. In Human Geography, we also have the chance to go to Berlin for a week as part of an Urban Dynamics course!

The great thing about the Faculty of Geosciences and the Environment is that we belong to small sections that are mixed together for certain courses. That makes it easy to recognise each other and make lots of friends. We do a lot of group work, which teaches us to work together and makes us well prepared for our future jobs. It also helps to create a good group dynamic! There's no competition; on the contrary, the atmosphere is very collaborative.

As the course progresses, I get the impression that there are fewer and fewer lessons but more and more work! What's more, you also have to do a Bachelor's thesis. However, a lot of students manage to get a small job on the side, so it's feasible, although quite complicated in the first two years. I strongly advise you to take the time to be physically active alongside your studies. Personally, I've joined the university basketball club! There are also many events organised by our student association, AEGE: workchoppe aperitifs, geobaths in the lake, a skiing weekend, a jass tournament, etc.

What I like about this course is that it allows you to gain an in-depth understanding of current problems, and to find solutions to avoid repeating them. We sometimes tend to think that the geosciences are limited to the study of rocks, but in reality it's very human! It's all about building a better world, so it's really very interesting and makes you feel useful. What's more, in today's world, I think you can say that it's a course for the future. Personally, I'd like to become a diplomat!

I discovered environmental chemistry by chance at gymnasium, in the list of subjects to choose from for my final year. For this project, I went down to the river to take water samples, which I then analysed in the laboratory. I really enjoyed it, and I started to want to work in this field. That's when I discovered the Geosciences and Environment (UNIL) and Environmental Sciences and Engineering (EPFL) courses. I went through the EPFL first, but I found that the social aspect wasn't present enough and environmental problems were too often translated into figures. For me, an environmental problem is first and foremost a social problem. That's why I came to UNIL. Here, there's a much more varied view of the environment, particularly from the perspective of the human sciences, and you're prepared to analyse environmental problems from all points of view, without really being specialised in one field. So the choice between these two courses depends more on what you want to be: an engineer (EPFL) or a scientist with other, broader points of view (UNIL). I would advise students who are unsure to come to the Discovery Days, and to contact the student associations if they have any questions.

In the first year, the workload is substantial, not only because of the amount of rote learning, but also because of the energy spent on finding your own way of working, adapting, etc. As a result, you spend a lot of time on campus and it's quite easy to make friends. As a result, you spend a lot of time on campus and it's fairly easy to make friends. In the second year, the pace becomes less intense, mainly because you get used to it and know better what to expect. You then have more time for activities outside your studies and a full social life. The great thing is that when you arrive in your first year, you're not on your own: the students in the association quickly get in touch with you to introduce themselves, give you guidance and so on. There's also a mentoring system where each first-year student has the opportunity to join a group mentored by a student further along the course!

To gain experience between my Bachelor's and Master's degrees, I took a year's break during which I did an internship. I strongly recommend this option to students who have the opportunity. During my placement, I noticed that there are differences between the academic world and the world of work. These placements will enable you to target your needs! For example, I'm planning to take an environmental law course at EPFL next semester. This will help me deal with the difficulties I'll face when managing a project (e.g. renaturation). I'm currently in the first year of a Master's degree in Environmental Sciences, with a focus on aquatic sciences. It's a Master's degree that's very much focused on the natural sciences, with a lot of data analysis and therefore IT. But that's essential because our job is to collect and process data.