Analyses of environmental changes - Focus: Archives 15 credits

About the course

Our entire world is connected through a network of biogeochemical processes. The atmosphere affects the composition of the rain, which affects the vegetation, that - in turn - affects the soil, stream, lake and eventually the sediment that accumulates at the bottom of the lake. The traces these biogeochemical processes leave in the environment can be used to tease out how our environment has changed, and is changing. The aim of this course is to provide knowledge on how different biogeochemical approaches can be used to study environmental change in a broad context. The focus will be on how natural archives (e.g., lake sediments) can be used to understand slow, and gradual, changes that are active over centuries to millennia. During the course we will discuss background/reference conditions, as well as, natural variability and analytical uncertainty, and how these concepts relate to our understanding of both natural and anthropogenic environmental changes.

The course is divided into the following two modules, which run in parallel during the course. Parts of the course are integrated with the course "Analyses of environmental changes - Focus: Long-term environmental problems".

Module 1. Analyses of environmental change, theoretical module, 7,5 credits
Here we discuss environmental change and, e.g., natural variability from different perspectives, with the overarching aim to increase the student's ability to apply a scientific approach when dealing with a complex problem. The module consists of a combination of lectures, laboratory work, exercises, workshops and/or seminar discussions.

Module 2. Analyses of environmental change, project module, 7,5 credits
This part of the course consists of projects, where the students couple the theoretical aspects from module 1 to the practical aspects of analyzing environmental changes using biogeochemical methods. The aim of this module is to train the student's ability to use relevant information (e.g., literature and/or analytical data) in a scientific way. This includes how data is collected, how the data is handled and finally how this affects how the data can be interpreted. In addition to practical work, this module can also contain lectures, seminar discussions, workshops and group discussions.

Show syllabus

Apply

Spring 2026
- Analyses of environmental changes - Focus: Archives
  
  Second admissions round for EU/EEA citizens
  
  VT26 / Umeå / English / On site
  
  Submit a late application
  
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  Starts
  19 January 2026
  
  Ends
  23 March 2026
  
  Number of credits
  15 credits
  
  Type of studies
  On site
  
  Study pace
  100%
  
  Teaching hours
  Daytime
  
  Study location
  Umeå
  
  Language
  English
  
  Application code
  UMU-50707
  
  Eligibility
  120 ECTS-credits of which 60 ECTS-credits (including at least a 15 ECTS-credit independent project (e.g., the writing of a thesis)) in Physical Geography/Earth Science, Biology, Environmental health or Environmental Science; or its equivalence. English proficiency equivalent to English 6/level 2 from Swedish Upper secondary education.
  
  Selection
  
  Academic credits
  
  Application
  Application deadline was 15 October 2025. Please note: This second application round is intended only for EU/EEA/Swiss citizens. Submit a late application at Universityadmissions.se.
  
  Application and tuition fees
  As a citizen of a country outside the European Union (EU), the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland, you are required to pay application and tuition fees for studies at Umeå University.
  
  Application fee: SEK 900
  
  Tuition fee, first instalment: SEK 38,075
  
  Total fee: SEK 38,075
  
  Details about tuition, fees and funding

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