Computational Sciences

Molecular structure and interactions are essential to the understanding of biology, the development of pharmaceutics, the design of new materials and of novel computing devices. The main simulation techniques in this area are classical molecular dynamics and molecular quantum mechanics. These techniques rely on solid knowledge in statistical mechanics, numerics, software design and high-performance computing that are all taught within the MSc program Molecular Sciences. Your profile is that of a computational chemist, computational physicist or applied mathematician with skills sought both in academia and in industries that engage in biotechnology, nanotechnology or pharmaceutics.

Geological Sciences involve the study of Earth´s resources and hazards, as well as of the processes that have acted through time to form its interior and exterior. We have a long tradition of expertise in the fields of hydrogeology, mineralogy, geochemistry, geophysics, geology, planetology, and paleontology. This includes study of the basic resources on which our civilization depends. In addition, we specialize in analysing and forecasting long- and short-term geological processes, including their seismological and volcanological hazards and potentials. We also focus on assessing climate change, ecosystem balance, and economic risks, as well as on developing public awareness of these issues.

The Atmospheric Sciences aim at understanding and predicting the short-term dynamics (weather) and long-time statistics (climate) of Earth's Atmosphere. The atmosphere hosts the huge range of spatio-temporal scales, from microphysical processes of cloud droplet creation (micro-meters / micro-seconds) via individual clouds (1 km / 20 min) to El Niño/La Niña events (planetary scales / several years) and beyond. This prohibits its experimental investigation on the basis of comprehensive laboratory equivalents. For this reason, computer models of the atmosphere, and more generally of the Earth System, play an absolutely central role in this scientific field. Particular subtasks in this context are the numerics of fluid flow under gravity on a rotating sphere, analytical techniques for unravelling the multiscale nature of atmospheric flows, their relation to the modelling of unresolved scales (parameterizations), and the assimilation of observational data into ongoing simulations of the atmospheric dynamics. The MSc program "Computational Sciences - Atmospheric Sciences" provides a solid basis for understanding the associated challenges and for contributing to their solution.