About the Department

We, the University of Madras is one of the oldest universities in India, organised on the model of London University was incorporated on 5th September 1857 by an act of the legislative Council of India. The university has its moto ‘Doctrina Vim Promovet Insitam’ meaning ‘Learning promotes one’s innate talent’. The University of Madras has entered 165th year of its existence in 2022 – 2023. 

The Department of Applied Geology one of the pioneering Department established in 1952 as the Department of Geology and Geophysics with Prof. P. R. J. Naidu as the Founder-Head. The Department has been an integral part of the Guindy Campus of the University of Madras and has produced innumerable eminent geologists, scientists, academicians and experts in such diverse fields as Marine Geology, Crystallography, Mineralogy and Petrology, Oil and Mineral Exploration, Hydrogeology, Geophysics, Geochemistry, Applied Micropaleontology, Coastal Zone Management, Natural Hazards and Disaster Management. The faculty of the Department of Applied Geology have taken several steps to improve the quality of teaching and research over the years. The curriculum is so designed and updated on a regular, periodic basis that the post-graduate students as well M.Phils and Ph.Ds have been able to find important placements both at National as well as International levels. The Department of Applied Geology has been in collaboration with various reputed institutes/universities across the globe such as Kyoto University (Japan), University of Melbourne (Australia), IRD (France), ETH Zurich (Switzerland), Middle East Technical University, Ankara (Turkey), Leuphana University of Luneberg (Germany), and IPN (Mexico) to name a few. We, the University of Madras is one of the oldest universities in India, organised on the model of London University was incorporated on 5th September 1857 by an act of the legislative Council of India. The university has its moto ‘Doctrina Vim Promovet Insitam’ meaning ‘Learning promotes one’s innate talent’. The University of Madras has entered 165th year of its existence in 2022 – 2023. 

Objective

• Develop a solid foundational understanding of geological principles to gain understanding of the Earth as a dynamic and complex system.
• Provide children with scientific experiences that teach them how to observe natural processes and use those observations to better understand the Earth.
• Bring perspectives from geology to bear on students' daily lives

Mission

The Department of Applied Geology University of Madras engage and inspire our community by creating and sharing geoscience knowledge to advance understanding of the past, present and future world. In all programs, we enable students to discover and develop relevant knowledge and skillsets so that they can achieve their professional goals and pursue solutions to resource and environmental challenges facing the state, nation, and world. We welcome motivated individuals who are passionate about science, value diversity and tolerance, and believe in wise stewardship of our planet through critical thinking and dialogue.

Vision

The Department of Applied Geology University of Madras adopts as its goal for upcoming years to become a nationally recognized leader in integrating research excellence and education in geosciences. In research, we strive to sustain and grow a resource platform that continues to enable our students and scholars to contribute at high levels to internationally significant research problems in Geosciences. In education, we strive to provide students with opportunities to discover and develop relevant knowledge and skill sets that will enable them to achieve their professional goals. We believe that creative integration of research with education will promote excellence in both.

MUSEUM AND LIBRARY

The Mineralogical and Geological Museum of our Department is committed to the development and preservation of various collections of minerals, rocks, ores, gems and fossils for the purpose of research and education. There are about thousands of specimens displayed in our museum which is exhibited at the centre of the Department where anyone can visit and learn the treasure of the Earth materials. The displayed samples are collected in different time periods and from different horizons of the world during the geological field visits by our department faculties and students. Moreover, new samples are also being added to the Museum by time to time.

Our department library has thousands of books covering a wide range of subjects like Earth and Atmospheric Science, Geology, Geography, Environmental Science, Marine science, Geomatics etc. The Library collection is enriched with books, book volumes, journals, reprints, memoirs, thesis and project reports. In addition, there are collections of geologic and topographic maps and atlas. The collection is built in a systematic way in tune with the teaching and research programmes which helps the students to enhance the subject knowledge to prepare for competitive examinations. Every year we are adding new books and materials according to the need of the students and faculties.

AUDITORIUM

The department of Applied Geology has a fully furnished, well equipped air conditioned Auditorium with LCD projectors, screens and white boards with modern projections and audio system. It provides ample opportunities for our students, teaching and non-teaching staffs to exhibit their talents in various activities and to organize various national and international workshops and conference and special lectures.

LAB EQUIPMENTS

The department has many Hi-Tech equipments for the research and exploration with practical courses of the scholars and students. Many projects are being taken-up by the Professors and new Hi-End equipments are being added in the subsequent years. The department has different laboratories such as Geochemistry Lab, Micropaleontology Lab, Thin Section Lab, Engineering Lab, Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS) Lab etc.

These Labs are equipped with X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) Spectrometer to solve analytical challenges in a wide range of applications especially in Geochemistry. Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS) for rapid trace metal analysis. Ion chromatography (IC), using ion-exchange resins to separate atomic and molecular ions for analysis. The Engineering Lab for compression tests are used to determine material behaviours under compressive pressure loads. Micropaleontology Lab is available to study the microfossils for understanding the Palaeo-ecology and Palaeo-environmental conditions. Thin Section Lab is utilised to study the petrography and mineralogy through the microscopic studies of thin sections. The Department has many equipments and software facilities such as GPS (Garmin), Aerial Photographs, Satellite imagery, and Toposheet repository, ENVI Image Processing, Arc GIS, Aquachem etc. 

MOU WITH INDUSTRY AND OTHER UNIVERSITIES

Our department is expanding the boundary of learning in education and collaborating with the Keio University of Japan for Knowledge Sharing, Research Sharing and many more. New MoU with ‘GEOLOG (world’s largest independent international mud logging Company) will open the doors of placements in the Earth science especially in field of Petroleum Geology and GEOLOG has seeded its branch in our department. 

Our department students are practising internship provided by the Department of Applied Geology in collaboration with GEOLOG. During summer internship, the students move all across the India: Hindustan Copper Ltd., Malanjkhand, M.P., ISM Dhanbad., CSIR-CIMFR, Dhanbad, Jharkhand., GSI Cochin., etc. and experience beyond the boundary of the state which motivates them out of the comfort zone. 

OTHER ACTIVITIES

We believe, we should learn beyond the classroom, students are celebrating World Water Day by implementing Root zone drip Irrigation Practice in the campus garden.

ALUMNI ASSOCIATION 

The Department is registered for ‘Madras University Applied Geology Alumni Educational Association’ to bring together all the passed out students under one roof for a THINK TANK for better utilisation of their knowledge, experience and skills.