SPECIALIZED IN GEOPHYSICS
BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN PHYSICS
UNIVERSITY OF NATURAL SCIENCES - VNU-HCM
1. Overview of Geophysics? Describe the job of a person studying Geophysics after graduating? (the difficulties, hardships as well as opportunities of this industry?)
The field of Geophysics studies the Earth's physical fields such as seismic wave fields, magnetic fields, electric fields, gravity fields, thermal fields, etc., theories of earthquakes, and convection motion of liquids in the Earth's atmosphere. in the Earth's core, convection in the ionosphere, interaction between the solar wind and the Earth's magnetosphere, magnetic storms, equatorial currents... Thanks to the research results of the field of Geophysics, We know that the structure of the Earth from the center to the outside consists of many layers with different physical properties: inner core (solid), outer core (liquid), mantle and crust. The Earth's magnetic field is generated by the movement of fluid in the outer core and the magnetosphere acts as a cage protecting life on Earth from high-energy radiation emitted from the Sun. Researching the structure of the magnetosphere and ionosphere in the relationship between the Sun and the Earth is an area of interest to the world community of Geophysicists as well as Vietnam.
Geophysics has a very wide range of applications. The most important application of Geophysics is the study of earthquake prediction. This is an unresolved problem because our understanding of the structure of the Earth's crust and its tectonic activity is still very poor. Earthquake research is also about assessing the likelihood of an earthquake occurring and the level of damage it causes in each region.
In oil and gas exploration, Earth Physics plays a particularly important role. In the early stages of investigation, people can use electromagnetic exploration, magnetic exploration, gravity, and tellurium methods to preliminarily determine the geological structure. After that, reflection and refraction seismic exploration methods will be used to study the structure in detail, and the final step will be exploratory drilling in which wellbore geophysical methods (carota) are applied. It can be affirmed that without Geophysics there would be no oil and gas industry.
The field of Geophysics is also applied in surveying and searching for minerals, studying shallow structures near the ground to serve the tasks of engineering geological survey, searching for underground water, and assessing the level of geophysics. environmental pollution, landslide research, construction quality assessment, urban underground construction mapping, archeology, remote sensing, astronomical research.
Geological survey students are able to operate a number of common geophysical equipment to collect data in the field such as: electric probes, ground penetrating radar, seismic probes, magnetic and gravity probes. force; Master the process of collecting data in the field and the process of interpreting measurement data. Geological survey students are able to use some basic software in processing data for seismic electrical exploration, electrical exploration, ground penetrating radar, master the basic principles of signal processing and image processing, Have basic knowledge of Earth's physical fields and astronomy and cosmology.
When working at companies (except for programming and simulation), geophysics students must carry out measurements outdoors, in many different weather and time conditions. For example, geological and mineral surveys can be done in the forest, non-destructive testing, underground construction mapping can be done at night, and astronomy is also best observed at night. , offshore oil and gas surveys, etc. Therefore, when graduating, students need to be passionate about their work to be able to go far in the industry.
You will encounter many difficulties, but when you achieve the final result you will be very happy and proud, because you can see deep into the ground using only physical tools. It is said that geophysicists "eat food from the earthly world, but talk about the underworld"; or there is a poem about geophysicists during field work: "I took the earth to soak in wine / I took the whole giant claw and grilled it as bait."
Figure 1: Geography students and lecturers conduct a field survey in Binh Phuoc
2. What are the human resource needs of the Geophysics industry today in our country and in the future?
Currently, the requirements for mineral, oil and gas investigation are somewhat reduced. Therefore, the demand for human resources in this industry has decreased significantly compared to more than 10 years ago.
However, with the development of society, the needs for geological surveys of construction projects, assessment of construction quality, non-destructive testing, and mapping using GIS are increasing.
Furthermore, Geophysics students can participate in programming companies (the Faculty of Physics currently teaches many programming languages for physics research, and has also signed MOUs with a number of programming companies. submit). The benefit of students majoring in Physics in general and in geophysics in particular is that their entry points are lower than those in the IT major.
Another great development direction for Geophysics students is to find opportunities to study abroad in advanced countries around the world (scholarship sources for basic research are quite large). The majors that Geophysics students can study are: Geophysics, Earth Science, Astronomy and Cosmology.
Currently, a number of foreign professors and universities are looking for students to participate in research and graduate studies in astronomy.
Figure 2: Astronomy workshop at the Open Science Festival
3. What are the subject combinations for admission into this major? Should people who are bad at physics choose this major?
The Earth Physics major is one of seven majors in the Physics department, University of Sciences, Vietnam National University-HCM. Therefore, to enter the Geophysics major, students must take the Physics exam. Subject combinations for the Physics major: A01 (Math - Physics - English), A00 (Math - Physics - Chemistry).
Physics knowledge and computer skills are important requirements in this industry. Students will learn basic knowledge in the 1st and 2nd years of university (physics, basic information technology and programming languages). Therefore, when entering the major, students are equipped with enough knowledge and skills to study the major well. Remember, just because you weren't good at physics in high school doesn't mean you can't acquire physics knowledge at the university level. Furthermore, computer skills are almost mandatory for all different fields.
4. What are the necessary qualities to be able to study and work in the field of Geophysics?
There are three mandatory requirements to truly be able to study and work long term with the Geophysics major:
+ Good background knowledge of physics, computers and foreign languages. Because the geophysics industry uses physical methods to research and interpret various objects related to the Earth. In addition, to work well with the collected data, STUDENTS must definitely use a lot of computer skills: use specialized software, write reports and calculate on word, excel, and better. is proficient in a programming language for simulation and data processing. Certainly, communicating and reading English documents is always necessary for all industries.
+ Passion and determination. This is actually a mandatory requirement for all industries. However, the work of the geotechnical industry sometimes has to be performed in locations far from the city, with relatively heavy working conditions and irregular hours. Therefore, without the above factors, it will be difficult for STUDENTS to be patient enough to reap the rewards.
+ Have the health to do field work (geophysics machinery is quite heavy), or concentrate for a long period of time to collect data (astronomy, atmospheric physics, monitoring changes for a long time).
For astronomy, in addition to passion, there needs to be a little romance to see the beauty of the sky, galaxies, stars, black holes, ...
Figure 3: Actual survey
5. Which universities in Vietnam are training in this field? (Can you just remind me of a few school names, which explain more clearly about the training activities in this major at the University of Sciences (VNU-HCM)?
In Vietnam, there are many schools that train similar or nearly similar fields to Geophysics: University of Mining and Geology, University of Sciences, VNU-HN, University of Petroleum, Polytechnic University. Faculty and University of Sciences, Vietnam National University-HCM.
At the University of Natural Sciences, the Geophysics major belongs to the Physics branch, managed by the Faculty of Physics and Engineering Physics. Students entering the Physics major will study one year together, and the next two years will be divided into two orientations. In year 4, students will choose one of seven majors (Theoretical Physics, Nuclear Physics, Informatics Physics, Applied Physics, Solid State Physics, Electronic Physics and Geophysics). At that time, students will learn basic subjects related to their major, practice and do a graduation thesis in the final semester. The training goal is to provide fundamental knowledge and skills so students can work in different environments and requirements. The wish of the Faculty of Physics and Literature is that students can switch to different directions based on the knowledge and skills they have prepared. For example, students majoring in geophysics can work on programming, research on astrophysics and particle physics; On the contrary, students majoring in physical and chemical engineering can also study postgraduate studies and work towards geotechnical engineering.
In addition, the field of Geophysics is also training masters and doctoral degrees. At the postgraduate level, students will learn advanced subjects to be able to chair state or business projects and topics.
Figure 4: Geophysics students conducting archaeological surveys in Can Gio
6. Introduce some typical subjects of the Geophysics major? Get evidence from the University of Sciences (VNU-HCM)?
Some required subjects of the Geophysics major:
+ General Earth Physics: This subject includes general knowledge about research subjects and the scope of application of Earth physics, the Earth in the solar system, the formation and evolution of the Earth. , gravity and earth's shape, gravity anomalies, seismicity and earth's internal structure, earth's heat, geothermal, geomagnetic, geoelectrical and geodynamic anomalies.
+ Seismic exploration methods: This subject includes elastic wave field theory, basic concepts of explosive sources, measuring machines, data collection methods and procedures, processing and solution methods. predict reflection and refraction seismic exploration materials. Actual working process (way). Seismic methods are the most important methods in oil and gas exploration.
+ Astronomy: This subject includes knowledge about the laws of motion of planets in the universe (Kepler's laws), Newton's law of universal gravitation, coordinate systems in astronomy, conditions of diurnal motion of stars, motion of the sun on the ecliptic, division of seasons and climate zones, problems of measuring time, motion of the moon, tidal phenomena, diurnal conditions eclipse, partial and total lunar eclipse, origin of the formation of the solar system, characteristics and properties of the sun, characteristics and properties of the planets in the solar system, measurement of star distances , properties of stars (temperature, size, color, ...), survey of star evolution, life cycle of a star, origin of galaxies in the universe, structure of galaxies Galaxies and classification of galaxies in the universe.
+ Geophysical data management on GIS: This subject includes knowledge about managing, storing, and measuring data in the field by applying achievements in information technology; Knowledge of data storage, presentation, and interpretation systems; Knowledge of handling various types of data, how to classify, arrange and represent data; knowledge of correlation and comparison between types of data in presentation and interpretation; Subject knowledge is applied in many fields such as Geophysics, Transportation, Geodesy, Remote Sensing, Geography....
+ Digital signal processing for geophysics: The course provides students with basic knowledge about transformation methods, calculations and theory for solving inverse problems in the field of Geophysics. Field transformations in spatial domains will be discussed. The typical multi-solution problem of Geophysics will be approached through classical examples as well as modern solutions. The multi-dimensional approach to multi-empirical reality is portrayed by the combination, support and verification of different Geophysical methods. Statistical probability methods in 'big data' analysis will be introduced and are one of the important applications in supporting solving multi-root problems. Therefore, the digital signal processing for Geophysics course will help students have an overview of how to approach solving Geophysics problems effectively.
Students studying subjects such as Digital Signal Processing for Geomatics and Geography Data Management on GIS can use it in many other fields besides Geophysics.
Figure 5: Teachers in the Geophysics Major
7. What are the difficulties when studying and working in this industry?
Geophysics equipment is very expensive, so current training facilities only provide a portion of the teaching equipment. However, STUDENTS still have the opportunity to come into contact with modern equipment through links between training facilities and companies, institutes, and federations.
The demand of the geotechnical industry is always there, but the quantity will not be equal to the economic and IT sectors. Therefore, job opportunities in the geotechnical industry are not abundant, especially when the oil and gas industry is facing many difficulties.
Working in the geotechnical industry requires going to the field, so it is more difficult and requires traveling much farther than some office jobs. The geotechnical industry always has to be present at construction projects first, so it faces more obstacles.
Income will be very high when students get jobs at oil and gas companies or geological exploration companies at home and abroad (Slumberger, EGS Survey); When working in federations and institutes, the initial income is a bit low. But when you are qualified enough to accept topics and projects, your income will increase greatly.
Opportunities for postgraduate study at home and abroad with scholarships are very abundant. Advanced countries in the world always spend large amounts of funding to train in difficult-to-enroll fields such as astronomy, cosmology, and earth science (research on earthquakes, tsunamis, atmosphere, tides, and magnetic fields). of the Earth), geophysical exploration, to serve research on climate change and the environment, and search for useful minerals.
8. What jobs can students majoring in Geophysics do upon graduation? Where?
After graduating, students majoring in Geophysics can work in:
+ Oil and Gas Companies: exploration engineers and data processing of magnetic, gravity, and marine seismic methods; well geophysical engineer.
+ Federations (Federation of Mapping and Geology, Federation of Water Resources Investigation), Institutes (Institute of Physics, Institute of Natural Resources Geography, Institute of Geophysics), Department of Natural Resources and Environment: participate Basic research projects such as: landslide research, water resources investigation, magnetic, gravity, and radioactivity mapping for different regions, environmental pollution assessment, fault research, earthquake zoning, ionosphere research; Participate in projects at the request of construction companies (geological survey, construction quality assessment, underground construction mapping).
+ Participate in teaching and research at universities (University of Natural Sciences, University of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Science and Technology, University of Petroleum, University of Mining and Geology).
+ Geological research and evaluation companies, mineral investigation and exploitation companies, non-destructive testing companies (NDT): engineers operate machines, process and interpret data.
+ Cosmology Center, observatory: participating in remote sensing and astronomy projects with domestic and foreign organizations.
+ GIS companies (mapping based on geographic information systems), even programming companies: programming engineers.
+ In addition, students also have the opportunity to study postgraduate studies domestically and abroad in the fields of Geophysics, astronomy, and cosmology (countries such as Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Australia, and New Zealand are having many scholarships in these fields).
9. Salary and income of occupations in this major?
+ Working at foreign oil and gas companies, geophysical surveys: > 20 million VND / month.
+ Working at domestic NDT and geophysical survey companies: 10 - 15 million VND / month.
+ Working at state agencies and universities: base salary, but will have additional income when implementing projects.
+ Postgraduate study abroad: on scholarship.
+ Domestic postgraduate study: have the opportunity to participate in topics with lecturers.
10. Opportunities for advancement in this profession? How to learn more to develop quickly in the profession?
The field of Geophysics is a narrow field but requires a large amount of knowledge and increasingly modern equipment, so studying at a higher level and working hard to participate in real-life projects will help students gain knowledge. More experience and knowledge to perform tasks well. In the geotechnical industry, experience is a very important factor, because the physical objects below the ground are very diverse and the problem of geophysical exploration is always multi-solution. Therefore, companies are always willing to pay very high salaries to experienced geophysicists.
The more the population increases, the greater the social needs, so we will always want to exploit more of the Earth's potential. Furthermore, the field of Geophysics always plays an important role in construction projects and environmental research. Therefore, this will certainly still be a very necessary industry in the future.
Link:
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Link video:
2/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YHLMOVFr_4