Program goal
Training for scientifically oriented, highly qualified personnel capable of conducting comprehensive, interdisciplinary research at the intersection of paleontology, stratigraphy, sedimentology, paleobiology, and paleoecology.
Duration of study
Two academic years
Language of instruction
English
To complete the MA Program in “Paleobiological and Stratigraphic Aspects of Paleobotany Research”, students must prepare and defend a Master's thesis. The GGD Historical Geology Section proposes thesis topics that are approved by the Department’s academic council. Supervisors appointed by NSU GGD specialized departments provide the research work materials. Graduate students from foreign counties can bring their independent research material with them. With prior agreement, students can use the subject of their undergraduate research for their MA research activities.
The NSU GGD Historical Geology and Paleontology Sections will assess the need for 1st and 2nd-year MA students to conduct geological field research in the summer and, when possible, costs will be covered by NSU and SB RAS specialized, geological institutes. The key planned subjects for field geological research are the Altai-Sayan folded region, the Siberian platform, and the neighboring regions of Siberia. In these regions, there are stratified geological objects of Late Precambrian - Paleozoic - Mesozoic - Cenozoic age sedimentary basins in which various marine and continental communities of organisms are found. Fieldwork is conducted according to Russian legislation regarding foreign citizens stay in Russia.
Examples of topics
Dmitry Grazhdankin
Doctor of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences, Head of the Laboratory of Precambrian Paleontology and Stratigraphy at the A.A. Trofimuk Institute of Petroleum Geology and Geophysics SB RAS (TIPGG), Senior Lecturer at NSU GGD and NSD. Main research interests: reconstruction of mechanisms for functioning paleoecosystems; reconstruction of the eukaryotic phylogenetic tree from the late Precambrian and early Phanerozoic Eons; regional and global correlation of the Upper Proterozoic and Northern Eurasia Terrenevian system; reconstruction of the Ediacaran biota habitat conditions on the basis of the Upper Vendian deposits in the reference sections of the East European and Siberian platforms.
Olga Obut
Candidate of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences, Senior Researcher at the Laboratory of Paleozoic Paleontology and Stratigraphy TIPGG, Senior Lecturer, NSU GGD. Research interests include the study of Paleozoic microfossils (radiolaria, conodonts, chitinozoins) for the purposes of biostratigraphy and paleogeography of sedimentary basins in the south of Western Siberia and Central Asia.
Vasily Marusin
Candidate of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences, Senior Researcher at the Laboratory of Precambrian Paleontology and Stratigraphy TIPGG, Senior Lecturer, NSU GGD, Senior Researcher at the NSU GGD Scientific-Educational Center “Evolution of the Earth”. Research interests include morphology, systematics, and paleoecology of fossil traces of life, transformation of marine ecosystems at the Precambrian and Cambrian boundary; lithological structure, facies structure and stratigraphy of the Siberian platform Vendian-Cambrian deposits, as well as questions of their intraregional and long-range correlation.
Nikolay Matushkin
Candidate of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences, Senior Researcher, Laboratory of Geodynamics and Paleomagnetism TIPGG, Senior Researcher, Laboratory of Geodynamics and Paleomagnetism of the Central and Eastern Arctic, NSU GGD, Associate Professor, NSU GGD. Research interests include: the structure and stages of development of the Siberian paleocontinent and the Arctic region folded belt; structural mapping, the identification of fold-thrust belts stages of formation, intrusive massifs, tectonic lenses and terranes; structural control in paleomagnetic studies; substantiation of tectonic units boundaries.
Igor Kosenko
Candidate of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences, Senior Researcher at the Laboratory of Paleontology and Mesozoic and Cenozoic Stratigraphy TIPGG, Senior Lecturer, NSU GGD. Research interests include the study of bivalve mollusks (oysters) from the Upper Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous sections of Siberia, and the interpretation of data from isotope-geochemical analysis of Mesozoic invertebrate carbonate skeletal material.
Natalia Bykova
PhD, Senior Researcher at the Laboratory of Precambrian Paleontology and Stratigraphy TIPGG. Scientific interests: morphology, systematics and taphonomy of organic walled macroalgae; taphonomy of Ediacar biota; dynamics of the morpho-functional diversity of macroalgae at the Precambrian and Cambrian boundary; study of redox conditions in paleo-basins in late Precambrian and Cambrian Periods.
Dmitry Tokarev
Candidate of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences, Senior Researcher at the Laboratory of Paleozoic Paleontology and Stratigraphy TIPGG, Senior Lecturer, NSU GGD. Scientific interests: archaeocytes and organogenic constructions of the Lower Cambrian of the Altai-Sayan fold region and the Siberian platform, paleogeography of the Siberian Cambrian Period.
Tuition fees
Tuition fees is U.S. $5200 per year.
Scholarships
Every year foreign students have an opportunity to apply for the Russian Government Scholarship Program
Benefits: full tuition, monthly stipend
Application deadline: depends on the country of applicant
You also have an opportunity to participate in the "Open Doors” Russian Scholarship Project and win a full scholarship to study Master’s program.
Benefits: full tuition, monthly stipend.
Note! For enrollment you have to submit both original and notarized Russian translations of the required documents to the NSU Admission Office.