Blog & News

Supporting the Future of Industry

Thu 19 October 2017

Category: Community, Education, Field Trips

The PESGB sponsored seven student’s MSc course fees for the 2016/17 academic year in their continued support for education in the Earth Sciences. The students were spread across seven UK universities and having submitted their thesis and presented their research to peers and industry guests, they have now secured or are seeking Petroleum Geoscience related employment, or internships within the oil and gas industry. The sponsorship enabled several students to embark on their postgraduate course and meant that most of the students avoided doing paid work during their intensive year of study, or accruing further debt. The feedback we received was very positive: “I was thrilled with financial support for my MSc, as this gave me the opportunity to continue my pursuit of a career in the oil industry” and “my experience over the past year highlights the successful outreach and networking scheme the PESGB has established with students and Universities throughout the country.” The students were all very appreciative and thank the PESGB and the membership for their support.

When asked what the highlight of their Master’s year had been, the unanimous response was doing fieldwork and how valuable it had been in putting class room theory into context: “the fieldtrip was superb, we saw some brilliant outcrops that put a lot of what we had been taught through the year into perspective” and “what I learned whilst in the field was invaluable knowledge which will help me to drive my thought patterns when interpreting seismic.” The photos provided by the students reflect their enthusiasm for fieldwork, both as individuals and in class groups, and (apparently) include the only known example of syn-kinematic growth strata. Other positive experiences mentioned were “meeting like-minded people from around the world” and participating in group projects which gave an opportunity to work like a team of Geoscientists and “provided a fantastic platform in which to showcase new concepts and creativity within a dynamic team environment”.

The good relationship that many universities have with our industry was clearly appreciated by the students, particularly the interaction with professionals and the application of what they’d been taught: “the close alliance and consultation with industry is arguably one of the biggest advantages of the MSc” and “Geoscience professionals came to teach industry standards and practices used today, so the insight that I gained and networks that I developed were second to none”.

Several students had the good fortune to attend a conference and/or do an internship with an oil company during or immediately after their course and this was obviously an opportunity to get hands-on experience and to start building up a network of contacts. As one student put it “I have secured myself a graduate internship; hopefully, this will get my foot through the door of the industry and potentially lead to a permanent position”. Despite being aware of the precarious condition of the industry at present, the students are remarkably positive and determined to gain employment in their chosen fields, as is reflected in this final quote “I am fully motivated to work in this fascinating industry and don’t plan to give up the job hunt any time soon!“. Good luck to them all in their future ventures.