Meteorology

How do storms form? Why can the weather only be calculated a few days ahead, but the climate over decades? Meteorology answers questions like these – as the science of the physical and chemical processes in the atmosphere.

Using measurements, experiments, and computer models, it investigates the processes in the atmosphere – from the nucleation of individual cloud droplets and the chemistry of atmospheric trace gases to climate change. This makes it one of the natural sciences working directly on one of the major questions of our time.

The program combines physics, mathematics, and computer science with chemistry and environmental science. Anyone who enjoys quantitative thinking and wants to understand complex systems will find a demanding and varied field here, with a clear relevance to society, and will also learn to work with large amounts of data and with modeling.

What sets the program in Frankfurt apart:

• Early contact with research through working in research groups and
   taking part in measurement campaigns and field experiments
• Strong data and programming skills that are in demand well beyond the
   field itself
• A hands-on dimension, among other things through cooperation with the
   German Meteorological Service (Deutscher Wetterdienst) on site
• Intensive support in small tutorial groups, a mentoring program, and
   short distances to teaching staff
• A wide range of specialization options through diverse research areas

The B.Sc. Meteorology is a typical six semester program. It begins with the foundations in the natural sciences – physics, mathematics, and an introduction to programming – which are taught together with students of physics. Building on these, the focus shifts to atmospheric and climatic processes: how they are measured, described in physical terms, and modeled on the computer.

Practical courses provide experience in experimental work with real measuring instruments, while seminars develop scientific presentation skills. In the later semesters, the program goes into depth on individual processes – such as cloud microphysics, atmospheric chemistry, or the development of numerical models. An elective area leaves room for individual emphasis – for example through advanced physics or a minor such as chemistry, geosciences, or mathematics. The program concludes with the bachelor's thesis, written in one of the research groups on a current research topic.

Atmosphere and climate can also be studied with a stronger physics orientation; for this, the bachelor's program in physics offers the specialization "Physics of the Atmosphere and Climate".

Further information on meteorology as a major is available on the website of the Department of Meteorology.