B.Sc. Meteor­o­logy

Meteor­o­logy essen­tially describes the physics of the atmosphere. Thus an extens­ive basic educa­tion in mathem­at­ics and exper­i­ment­al physics is part of the course. With the first semester also the meteor­o­lo­gic­al educa­tion begins, which takes a larger portion start­ing from the third semester. Since meteor­o­logy deals with the entire atmosphere, both the processes on a molecu­lar level and the global climate are considered.
One highlight of the course is the oppor­tun­ity to spend a semester abroad on the island of Spits­ber­gen at one of the north­ern­most univer­sit­ies in the world, where you can gain a direct insight into research and life in the Arctic.

Mathem­at­ics

In the modules “Mathem­at­ic­al Found­a­tions of Meteor­o­logy” and “Theor­et­ic­al Meteor­o­logy 1” the neces­sary mathem­at­ic­al knowledge for the study is impar­ted. This includes analys­is, linear algebra as well as ordin­ary and partial differ­en­tial equations. The mathem­at­ic­al concepts are applied in the module “Mathem­at­ic­al Methods 1”, in which the most import­ant mathem­at­ic­al methods are used in classic­al physics and meteorology.

Exper­i­ment­al Physics

The modules Exper­i­ment­al Physics I and II must be taken in the Bachelor’s programme. These modules cover classic­al physics, i.e. the fields of mechan­ics, thermo­dy­nam­ics and electro­dynam­ics, which are already known from school. This knowledge can be applied in the Physics Labor­at­ory course, which completes the basic physic­al educa­tion in the third semester.

Compuls­ory Moduls

In the first two semesters, the modules “Intro­duc­tion to Meteor­o­logy” and “Intro­duc­tion to Clima­to­logy” offer a first overview of the topics within meteor­o­logy. The largest part of the contents can be found in the later modules. In “Theor­et­ic­al Meteor­o­logy 1 and 2” mathem­at­ic­al topics as well as the principles of dynam­ics and thermo­dy­nam­ics and the essen­tial meteor­o­lo­gic­al equations are taught. The knowledge acquired in the third semester in the field of statist­ics is useful for further studies. In addition, “Synop­tics” in this semester deals with topics such as the forma­tion of a low pressure area and fronts. With the fourth semester, the mathem­at­ic­al and physic­al basics for the study have already been laid, so that meteor­o­logy comes more to the fore. Highlights are the “Meteor­o­lo­gic­al Working Methods”, in which meteor­o­lo­gic­al quant­it­ies are measured independ­ently and meteor­o­lo­gic­al sensors are calib­rated. The same module also teaches the basics of scientif­ic work. These basics are applied in the semin­ar lectures of the follow­ing semester. In these lectures a concrete question is worked on with the help of scientif­ic liter­at­ure under guidance of a scient­ist at the insti­tute. Also in the fifth semester the “Weath­er Discus­sion” takes place, where students give a forecast for the weekend weath­er every Thursday. As part of the “Meteor­o­lo­gic­al Field Measure­ments” in the sixth semester in Zingst, continu­ous measure­ments within the atmospher­ic bound­ary layer are carried out over a period of two weeks.

Compuls­ory Electives

In the elect­ive compuls­ory area, students have the oppor­tun­ity to choose certain special­iz­a­tions in the fifth and sixth semesters accord­ing to their own interests. Possible modules cover topics such as aerosol physics, atmospher­ic chemistry, middle and high atmosphere as well as radiation and clouds.

Electives​

Within the elect­ive area modules from geography or computer science can be taken. At the Univer­sity of Leipzig, there are so-called key quali­fic­a­tion modules which offer the oppor­tun­ity to gain insights into the working methods of other subjects and to broaden one’s own knowledge horizon.

Bachel­or­arbeit

In the sixth semester the first independ­ent scientif­ic work is written, the Bachel­or thesis. The bachel­or thesis deals with a concrete meteor­o­lo­gic­al problem. The possible tasks range from the evalu­ation of the results of inter­na­tion­al measure­ment campaigns to the invest­ig­a­tion of certain influ­en­cing factors in climate simulations.

Studiendok­u­mente

Leipzig Insti­tute for Meteor­o­logy - LIM

"Der Natur gegenüberzustehen und seinen Scharf­sinn an ihren Rätseln zu erproben, gibt dem Leben einen ungeahnten Inhalt.

Alfred Wegen­er (Meteor­o­loge, Geowissenschaftler)