Marine Sciences: What Do You Really Study?
Oceans, climate and marine life — explore a vast system that affects the entire planet.
What Do You Study in Marine Sciences? Core Subjects, Year by Year
What do the degree courses cover?
Open a course to learn about its main topics and see what the work looks like in practice.
What do you learn in the course?Biology for Marine Sciences?
The course builds a foundation for understanding living beings from the cell to the ecosystem. Structure and function, heredity, evolution, diversity and relationships between organisms are studied, with examples that prepare for the study of plankton, invertebrates, fish and marine habitats.
Main topics
- Cell, metabolism and homeostasis
- Genetics, evolution and selection
- Physiology and reproduction
- Populations, communities and ecosystems
What does it look like in practice?
For example, two populations of the same species are compared along a temperature gradient and suggest whether the difference is due to adaptation, environment or a combination of them.
What do you learn in the course?Chemistry for marine sciences?
Learn the principles of matter and reaction needed to understand seawater and biogeochemical processes. The course deals with concentrations, equilibrium, acids and bases, oxidation-reduction and dissolved gases and links them to salinity, oxygen, carbon, nutrients and pollutants.
Main topics
- The structure of the substance and concentrations of solutions
- Equilibrium, acids and bases
- Oxidation-reduction and dissolved gases
- Carbon and nutrient cycles
What does it look like in practice?
For example, they calculate how the addition of carbon dioxide changes the carbonate system, the pH and the availability of carbonate for building skeletons.
What do you learn in the course?Physics for marine sciences?
The course presents the laws of movement, energy, currents, waves, heat and light that shape the ocean and its measurement methods. You learn to turn a marine phenomenon into a quantitative model and check units, orders of magnitude and limitations.
Main topics
- Forces, motion and energy
- Pressure, buoyancy and flow
- Waves, vibrations and sound
- Heat, light and energy transfer
What does it look like in practice?
For example, analyze how density, volume, and salinity determine whether a sampler will float, sink, or remain at a certain depth.
What do you learn in the course?Mathematics for Marine Science?
You learn functions, derivatives, integrals, vectors and equations that describe change, accumulation and movement in marine systems. The emphasis is on building a model, interpreting a graph and solving a problem and not just on algebraic manipulation.
Main topics
- Functions, limits and derivatives
- Integrals and Accumulation
- Vectors and systems of equations
- Differential equations and models
What does it look like in practice?
For example, build an equation that describes a change in the concentration of a nutrient according to entry, exit and biological consumption and check when the system reaches equilibrium.
What do you learn in the course?Oceanography?
The course connects the physics, chemistry, biology and geology of the ocean. You learn how wind, density and the rotation of the earth create currents and turbulence, how materials and energy move between sea, air and land and how the processes affect life and climate.
Main topics
- The structure of sea basins and water valves
- Currents, waves, tides and turbulence
- Salinity, oxygen and nutrients
- Manufacturing, carbon cycle and sea-climate relations
What does it look like in practice?
For example, a depth profile of temperature and salinity is interpreted to identify water layers, mixing and a possible explanation for nutrient dispersal.
Frequently Asked Questions About Marine Sciences
Is a degree in Marine Sciences difficult?
There is no single answer — difficulty depends on your background, the institution, and your chosen study pace. According to this site's estimate, The degree has a meaningful quantitative component that requires regular practice, but it is not the central focus of the program, and a large share of the reading material is in English. A good way to assess fit is to review the course map on this page: if most of the subjects interest you, the effort will usually feel worthwhile.
How long does a degree in Marine Sciences take?
Usually 3–4 years (Science degree with labs, cruises and field work). Exact duration varies by institution and depends on course load and the track you choose.
Marine Sciences or Biology — which is right for me?
The degrees most closely related to Marine Sciences are Biology, Chemistry, and Neuroscience. Their differences are usually in emphasis rather than the overall subject, so the fastest way to decide is to compare their course maps — what you actually study in each program, year by year. You can also open the degree comparison tool to view the differences side by side.