Your complete guide to a PhD in Geography

Everything you need to know about studying a PhD in Geography

part of Social Sciences

Geography is the study of the Earth, its physical features, and atmosphere. Geography also analyses how natural environments, surfaces, and phenomena impact human activities and the population distribution.

Geography seeks to answer questions like: Why is this landform here? How has it evolved over time? How could it change in the future, and what would be the impact on the local communities? What resources does a certain region have? Or how does geography influence population density?

There are two major branches: Human Geography and Physical Geography. The former analyses the relations between human societies and their environments, while the latter examines the natural characteristics of our planet.

Other subdisciplines include Urban Geography, Political Geography, Biogeography, Environmental Geography, Hazards Geography, Oceanography, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and others.

A typical Geography curriculum includes subjects like Global Environments, Spatial Thinking, Geological Maps and Structures, Geohazards, Sedimentary Rocks and Fossils, Geographies of Globalisation, Meteorology, Geopolitics, etc.

Geography graduates can easily get employed as cartographers, international development workers or tourism officers.

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View all PhDs in Geography. Keep in mind you can also study an online PhDs in Geography.

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Best Universities for Geography on PhDPortal

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Universities Location Shanghai Jiao Tong University Ranking (2017) TopUniversities Ranking (2018)
University of Oxford Oxford, United Kingdom 1 1
Utrecht University Utrecht, Netherlands 2 42
University of Cambridge Cambridge, United Kingdom 3 2
Durham University Durham, United Kingdom 4 7
UCL London, United Kingdom 5 8
Stockholm University Stockholm, Sweden 6 39
Australian National University Canberra, Australia 7 10
Wageningen University and Research Wageningen, Netherlands 8 -
University of Queensland Saint Lucia, Australia 9 37
University of Copenhagen Copenhagen, Denmark 9 -
ETH Zurich - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich, Switzerland 11 -
University of British Columbia Vancouver, Canada 12 5
University of Colorado at Boulder Boulder, United States 13 51
University of Leeds Leeds, United Kingdom 14 24
University of Bern Bern, Switzerland 15 101
The University of Exeter Exeter, United Kingdom 16 15
Université Grenoble Alpes Grenoble, France 17 -
University of Washington Seattle, United States 18 12
Melbourne Business School Melbourne, Australia 19 23
University of Southampton Southampton, United Kingdom 20 51
Columbia University New York City, United States 21 -
The University of Manchester Manchester, United Kingdom 22 21
University of Toronto Pickering, Canada 22 9
University of Zurich Zürich, Switzerland 24 51
University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, United States 25 4
University of Bristol Bristol, United Kingdom 26 29
Aarhus University Aarhus, Denmark 27 -
University of Sheffield Sheffield, United Kingdom 28 41
National University of Singapore Singapore, Singapore 29 11
The Ohio State University Upper Arlington, United States 30 35
The University of Edinburgh Edinburgh, United Kingdom 31 14
University of East Anglia Norwich, United Kingdom 32 51
Royal Holloway University of London London, United Kingdom 33 -
Aberystwyth University Aberystwyth, United Kingdom 34 51
Lund University Lund, Sweden 35 26
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Amsterdam, Netherlands 35 -
Arizona State University Tempe, United States 37 43
University of Minnesota Twin Cities Minneapolis, United States 38 -
Ghent University Ledeberg, Belgium 39 51
University of Helsinki Helsinki, Finland 40 49
University of Bergen Bergen, Norway 41 -
University of Wisconsin Madison Madison, United States 42 13
University of California, Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, United States 43 51
Wuhan University Wuhan, China 44 101
Newcastle University Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom 45 50
London School of Economics and Political Science London, United Kingdom 46 3
Peking University Beijing, China 47 25
Beijing Normal University Beijing, China 48 51
University of Oslo Oslo, Norway 49 51
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Los Angeles, United States 50 6
University of Florida Gainesville, United States 50 151
California Institute of Technology - Caltech Pasadena, United States 101 -
Cardiff University Cardiff, United Kingdom 101 51
Clark University Worcester, United States 101 51
Complutense University of Madrid Madrid, Spain 101 101
East China Normal University Shanghai, China 101 151
Freie Universität Berlin Berlin Steglitz, Germany 101 51
Griffith University Nathan, Australia 101 -
Heidelberg University Heidelberg, Germany 101 51
King's College London London, United Kingdom 101 19
Lanzhou University Lanzhou, China 101 -
Loughborough University Loughborough, United Kingdom 101 101
Louisiana State University Baton Rouge, United States 101 -
McGill University Montréal, Canada 101 27
Michigan State University East Lansing, United States 101 51
Pennsylvania State University State College, United States 101 45
University of Plymouth Plymouth, United Kingdom 101 -
Purdue University West Lafayette, United States 101 -
Queen's University Belfast Belfast, United Kingdom 101 151
Sapienza University of Rome Roma, Italy 101 101
Texas A&M University College Station, United States 101 101
The Chinese University of Hong Kong Shatin, Hong Kong (SAR) 101 36
Imperial College London London, United Kingdom 101 -
The Open University UK Milton Keynes, United Kingdom 101 -
University of Adelaide Adelaide, Australia 101 101
University of Reading Reading, United Kingdom 101 51
University of Amsterdam Amsterdam, Netherlands 101 16
University of Antwerp Antwerpen, Belgium 101 151
University of Barcelona Barcelona, Spain 101 51
University of Bonn Bonn, Germany 101 101
University of California, San Diego San Diego, United States 101 -
University of Cincinnati Cincinnati, United States 101 -
University of Denver Denver, United States 101 -
University of Groningen Groningen, Netherlands 101 -
University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign Urbana, United States 101 51
University of Innsbruck Innsbruck, Austria 101 -
University of Kansas Lawrence, United States 101 -
University of Leicester Leicester, United Kingdom 101 151
University of Lisbon Lisbon, Portugal 101 51
University of Liverpool Liverpool, United Kingdom 101 101
University of Massachusetts Amherst Amherst, United States 101 -
University of Otago Dunedin, New Zealand 101 51
University of Padua Padua, Italy 101 -
University of Potsdam Potsdam, Germany 101 -
University of Quebec in Montreal Montréal, Canada 101 -
Savoie Mont Blanc University Chambéry, France 101 -
University of South Australia Adelaide, Australia 101 -
University of St Andrews St Andrews, United Kingdom 101 51
University of Tasmania Hobart, Australia 101 -
University of Waterloo Waterloo, Canada 101 51
University of York York, United Kingdom 101 151
AgroParisTech - Institut des Sciences et Industries du Vivant et de l'Environnement Paris, France 151 -
Brown University Providence, United States 151 -
Charles University Prague, Czech Republic 151 51
China University of Geosciences Wuhan Wuhan, China 151 -
City University of Hong Kong Kowloon, Hong Kong (SAR) 151 -
Colorado State University Fort Collins, United States 151 151
Cornell University Ithaca, United States 151 -
Duke University Durham, United States 151 -
Humboldt University Berlin Berlin, Germany 151 29
Lancaster University Lancaster, United Kingdom 151 51
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Cambridge, United States 151 -
National Autonomous University of Mexico Coyoacán, Mexico 151 51
National Taiwan University Taipei, Taiwan 151 51
Northumbria University Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom 151 -
Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) Trondheim, Norway 151 151
Oregon State University Corvallis, United States 151 -
Queen Mary University of London London, United Kingdom 151 51
Rutgers University New Brunswick, United States 151 151
Sun Yat-sen University Guangzhou, China 151 101
University of Georgia Athens, United States 151 -
The University of Tokyo Tokyo, Japan 151 19
TU Dresden Dresden, Germany 151 -
Institute for European Studies - Universite Libre de Bruxelles Brussels, Belgium 151 -
University at Buffalo Buffalo, United States 151 -
University of Basel Basel, Switzerland 151 -
University of Bayreuth Bayreuth, Germany 151 -
University of California, Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, United States 151 -
University of Florence Florence, Italy 151 151
Goethe University Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main, Germany 151 -
University of Geneva Genève, Switzerland 151 101
University of Göttingen Göttingen, Germany 151 101
University of Gothenburg Göteborg, Sweden 151 -
University of Granada Granada, Spain 151 -
University of Guelph Guelph, Canada 151 151
University of Hamburg Hamburg, Germany 151 101
University of Kentucky Lexington, United States 151 151
University of Kiel Kiel, Germany 151 -
University of Kwazulu Natal Durban, South Africa 151 -
The University of Maine Orono, United States 151 -
Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU) Munich München, Germany 151 101
University of Oregon Eugene, United States 151 151
University of Ottawa Ottawa, Canada 151 51
University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, United States 151 -
University of Sao Paulo São Paulo, Brazil 151 51
University of Tennessee Knoxville Knoxville, United States 151 -
UIT the Arctic University of Norway Tromsø, Norway 151 -
University of Tübingen Tübingen, Germany 151 151
University of Victoria Victoria, Canada 151 151
Rovira i Virgili University Tarragona, Spain 151 -
Zhejiang University Hangzhou, China 151 101
Aix-Marseille University Marseille, France 51 -
Harvard University Cambridge, United States 51 -
James Cook University Townsville, Australia 51 151
KU Leuven Brussels, Belgium 51 44
Monash University Clayton, Australia 51 31
University Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier Toulouse, France 51 -
Stanford University Stanford, United States 51 -
Swansea University Swansea, United Kingdom 51 -
University of Glasgow Glasgow, United Kingdom 51 31
The University of Hong Kong Hong Kong, Hong Kong (SAR) 51 18
University of New South Wales Sydney, Australia 51 51
University of Texas at Austin Austin, United States 51 -
University of Alaska Fairbanks Fairbanks, United States 51 -
The University of Arizona Tucson, United States 51 101
University of Cape Town Cape Town, South Africa 51 47
University of Michigan Ann Arbor, United States 51 -
University of Montpellier Montpellier, France 51 -
University of Nottingham Nottingham, United Kingdom 51 46
University of Sussex Brighton, United Kingdom 51 51
University of Twente (UT) Enschede, Netherlands 51 -
Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ) Montigny-le-Bretonneux, France 51 -
University of Wollongong Wollongong, Australia 51 151
Uppsala University Uppsala, Sweden 51 -
Victoria University of Wellington Wellington, New Zealand 51 51
Autonomous University of Barcelona Barcelona, Spain 76 51
Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) Delft, Netherlands 76 -
Grenoble INP, Graduate schools of Engineering and Management, Université Grenoble Alpes Grenoble, France 76 -
Macquarie University Sydney, Australia 76 51
Nanjing University Nanjing, China 76 101
Sorbonne University Paris, France 76 -
Simon Fraser University Burnaby, Canada 76 51
Technical University of Denmark (DTU) Copenhagen, Denmark 76 -
University of Auckland Auckland, New Zealand 76 34
The University of Western Australia Perth, Australia 76 51
University of Aberdeen Aberdeen, United Kingdom 76 151
University of Alberta Edmonton, Canada 76 101
University of Birmingham Birmingham, United Kingdom 76 51
University of Bremen Bremen, Germany 76 151
University of California, Davis Davis, United States 76 51
University of California, Irvine (UCI) Irvine, United States 76 -
University of Cologne Köln, Germany 76 101
University of Lausanne Lausanne, Switzerland 76 151
University of Liège Liège, Belgium 76 151
University of Maryland College Park, United States 76 101
University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, United States 76 37
University of Sydney Sydney, Australia 76 17
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg Johannesburg, South Africa 76 101
University of Utah Salt Lake City, United States 76 -
Yale University New Haven, United States 76 -
SOAS University of London London, United Kingdom - 21
University of Chicago Chicago, United States - 28
University of Minnesota Minneapolis, United States - 33
Panthéon-Sorbonne University Paris, France - 40
Seoul National University Anyang, South Korea - 48
Autonomous University of Madrid Alcobendas, Spain - 101
Boston University Boston, United States - 101
Chulalongkorn University Bangkok, Thailand - 101
Dartmouth College Hanover, United States - 101
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Hong Kong, Hong Kong (SAR) - 101
Keio University Minato, Japan - 101
Korea University Seoul, South Korea - 101
Laval University Québec, Canada - 101
McMaster University Hamilton, Canada - 101
Northwestern University Evanston, United States - 101
Oxford Brookes University Oxford, United Kingdom - 101
Renmin University of China Beijing, China - 101
Syracuse University Syracuse, United States - 101
University of Waikato Hamilton, New Zealand - 101
Trinity College Dublin Dublin, Ireland - 101
UNICAMP - University of Campinas Campinas, Brazil - 101
Frankfurt University of Applied Science Frankfurt am Main, Germany - 101
University of Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, Argentina - 101
University of Calgary Calgary, Canada - 101
University of Canterbury Christchurch, New Zealand - 101
University of Chile Lo Prado, Chile - 101
University of Freiburg Freiburg, Germany - 101
University of Kent Canterbury, United Kingdom - 101
University of Newcastle Newcastle, Australia - 101
University of Oulu Oulu, Finland - 101
University of Vienna Vienna, Austria - 101
Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) Brussels, Belgium - 101
Aalborg University Aalborg, Denmark - 151
Birkbeck, University of London London, United Kingdom - 151
Curtin University Perth, Australia - 151
Federal University of Minas Gerais Belo Horizonte, Brazil - 151
George Washington University Washington, D. C., United States - 151
Hong Kong Baptist University Kowloon, Hong Kong (SAR) - 151
Jagiellonian University Kraków, Poland - 151
Kyung Hee University Seoul, South Korea - 151
Kyushu University Fukuoka, Japan - 151
Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU) Moscow, Russia - 151
Massey University Palmerston North, New Zealand - 151
Maynooth University Maynooth, Ireland - 151
Nagoya University Nagoya, Japan - 151
University of Galway Galway, Ireland - 151
The Open University UK Undergraduate Programmes Milton Keynes, United Kingdom - 151
Osaka University Osaka-shi, Japan - 151
RMIT University Melbourne, Australia - 151
Stellenbosch University Stellenbosch, South Africa - 151
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem Jerusalem, Israel - 151
Umea University Umeå, Sweden - 151
National University of Colombia Bogotá, Colombia - 151
University of Coimbra Coimbra, Portugal - 151
University of Hawaii at Manoa Honolulu, United States - 151
University of Johannesburg Johannesburg, South Africa - 151
University of Malaya Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - 151
University of Warsaw Warsaw, Poland - 151
University of Western Ontario London, Canada - 151
Western Sydney University Paramatta, Australia - 151
Indiana University Bloomington Bloomington, United States - 51
Kyoto University Kyoto, Japan - 51
Pontifical Catholic University of Chile Villa Presidente Frei, Ñuñoa, Santiago, Chile, Chile - 51
Queen's University Kingston, Canada - 51
The City University of New York New York City, United States - 51
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Hong Kong, Hong Kong (SAR) - 51
Tsinghua University Beijing, China - 51
UCLouvain Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium - 51
Université Paris-Sorbonne (Paris IV) Paris, France - 51
University College Dublin Dublin, Ireland - 51
University of Montreal Montréal, Canada - 51
Waseda University Shinjuku, Japan - 51
York University Toronto, Canada - 51
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