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| Physical Oceanography |
The physical oceanography curriculum combines a comprehensive program of course work with individually tailored specialization to meet student needs. Students will demonstrate proficiency in four required courses (SIO 203A,B, 214A, 212A) that are common to all physical oceanography students as well as additional courses appropriate to their specialization, for a total of 16 four-unit courses before graduation. Students are required to take twelve courses in the first year of which four are required courses in the Fall and Winter quarters. Additional courses are selected based on student interest. As part of the overall sixteen-course requirement, the choice of courses will include a breadth component of 2 or more four-unit courses in other scientific disciplines. These might come from SIO courses in other oceanographic or atmospheric disciplines (for example SIO 240, 260, 280, 217A or C) or from related graduate level courses taught at UCSD (for example in the Physics or Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering departments). A faculty First-Year Guidance Committee will meet with students to tailor tracks for each individual.
The Physical Oceanography Curricular Group uses a rotating advisors system during the first academic year, wherein the student has a different advisor each quarter. The purpose of this system is to help first-year students make the best possible choice of research advisor. We consider the match between student and advisor to be an essential step towards a succesful research career. At the end of the Spring quarter, each student will select a research advisor to begin research in earnest during the summer. The research advisor need not be one of the three from the first year.
Physical oceanography students take a departmental exam at the beginning
of their second year in graduate school. The purpose of the exam is to
provide an opportunity for students to synthesize the material that they
have learned during their year of coursework.
Past exams are archived to help students prepare.
We have a "catch-all" sequence, SIO 219, which covers special topics
in physical oceanography. A few recent and future 219s are listed below.
SIO 219 Theoretical Seminar
SIO 219 Observational Seminar
SIO 219 Long-Range Climate Prediction
SIO 219 Ocean State Estimation
SIO 219 Satellite Oceanography
SIO 219 Instability and Turbulence
Physical
Oceanography at Scripps