The research degree in Geology and Geophysics draws on expertise from the School's Earth and Planetary Science Research Institute. The Earth and Planetary Science Research Institute studies the physical and chemical properties, origin and history of the Earth, and encompasses the major disciplines of geology, geochemistry, geodynamics, meteorology and geophysics. We bring together hitherto separate fields to understand the way in which the Earth's subsurface works: from atoms to plates, and on timescales ranging from seconds to billions of years. Our research is applied to areas as diverse as carbon capture and storage and the examination of diamonds from the lower mantle. The Earth and Planetary Science Research Institute grouping, and the associated new joint Graduate School established by the Edinburgh Regional Partnership in Engineering and Mathematics, now contains Europe's largest grouping of subsurface research geologists and specialist geophysicists in a single city.