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School of Geography, University of Leeds
The School of Geography is part of the Faculty of Environment of  The University of Leeds  based in the UK. The University of Leeds hosts one of the most successful geography departments in the UK disseminating cutting edge knowledge and research on topics as diverse as tropical ecology, social inclusion and city futures. The School of Geography was ranked in the top six geography departments in the UK in the 2008 RAE exercise and awarded an 'Excellent' grading by HEFCE for the quality of its teaching. The School also attracts a number of students from outside the UK for its Masters and PhD programmes.

The School
Leeds University was one of the earliest British universities to establish a School of Geography in 1919. Various types of geography, including commercial geography, had been taught at the Yorkshire College (which preceded Leeds University) and in the University in the Economics department before 1919, reflecting an earlier and broader European interest in the use of geographical knowledge as an aid to national and international trade. Currently a staff of 70 disseminate cutting edge knowledge and research on topics as diverse as tropical ecology, social inclusion and city futures.

Teaching
The School of Geography at Leeds is one of the largest geography teaching departments in the UK, home to over 600 single honours undergraduate students, 70 Masters students and more than 50 research postgraduate students.

Undergraduate
The School of Geography offers a range of BA (Hons) and BSc (Hons) Undergraduate programmes some of which are offered in conjunction with other departments of the University of Leeds, such as the Institute for Transport Studies and the School of Earth and Environment. A range of geography elective modules are available for students from any discipline.

Masters
The School of Geography offers a number of MA, MSc and MRes courses, including both vocationally orientated and research-focussed courses. Many of these courses are also available as Postgraduate Diploma (PGDip) or Postgraduate Certificate (PGCert) courses and are also available for part-time study. In addition to face-to-face taught programmes, the GIS programme is available as a flexible, part-time, on-line distance learning programme and students can structure their study to suit their individual commitments.

Doctoral
PhD research at the School of Geography attracts students from around the world. The School’s research community is broadly divided into five research clusters. Each Research Cluster has a list of PhD topics or areas they would be interested in supervising. However, the School also welcomes applications where students detail their own research proposal.

Research
The School is at the forefront of internationally cutting-edge research, helping to tackle major social, political and environmental challenges associated with global change. The School was ranked with the second highest research rating in the UK in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise with 70% of the School's research activity judged to be internationally leading or internationally excellent.

The School has five Research Clusters:


 * Ecology and Global Change


 * Centre for Spatial Analysis and Policy (CSAP)


 * River Basin Processes and Management


 * Cities and Social Justice


 * Citizenship and Belonging

The academic staff work internationally including examining major world cities and in some of the remotest places on earth including the Arctic and Antarctic and within the depths of the tropical rainforests. LIVEDIFFERENCE was recently awarded €2.2 million by the European Research Council to research ‘Living with difference in Europe: making communities out of strangers in an era of super-mobility and super-diversity. The School also hosts a major multimillion pound cross university centre called water@leeds and leads global alliances of forest researcher's in South America (RAINFOR) and in Africa (AfriTRON).

Research Facilities
The School has a suite of teaching and research laboratories dedicated to soil, water and pollen research, alongside field equipment stores, cold rooms and DEFRA approved soil rooms. For work in the field, both Europe and UK, the School has a 110 Land Rover Defender and a Skoda 4x4 estate vehicle. To support our GIS and computing activities we have a 24 hour cluster with provision for 25 students. The School also has a range or audio visual equipment available to hire.

Staff
The School consists of around 70 world-class academic staff and a team of professional support staff. The current Head of School is Professor Gill Valentine who took up post in August 2010. Prof Valentine succeeded Professor Adrian Bailey. Previous incumbents include Professors McDonald, Clarke and Wilson.

Graduate destinations
Geography is a broad-based discipline which leads to a wide range of career or further study opportunities, these include:

Environmental management
 * Conservation
 * Land and water management
 * Public utilities

Management and consultancy
 * Transport planning and consultancy
 * Graduate training schemes in multinational companies
 * IT and business consultancy

Using GIS
 * Retail planning
 * Direct marketing
 * GIS companies

Government and NGOs
 * Local government administration
 * Civil service (police, armed forces)
 * Regional and overseas development

Financial
 * Banking
 * Insurance
 * Financial services

Further study and training
 * Vocational Masters
 * PhD study
 * Teacher training / conversion courses

Alumni
School of Geography alumni include: Piers Sellers, NASA astronaut, Simon Rix, bassist of Leeds based band the Kaiser Chiefs, Jon Hammond, who won a gold in the men's 50m shooting at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, Martine Croxall, BBC News Reader and the most Reverand Alan Harper, Archbishop of Armagh (awarded an OBE for services to conservation).