Research opportunities

Thank you for your interest in my program in structure/tectonics/tectonophysics at the University of Michigan.  I will be looking for new graduate students starting next Fall, so I encourage you to consider our graduate program.  Currently, I am particularly interested in rock fabric, fault gouge and pseudotachylyte studies in exhumed and drilled rocks, and field areas in US/Canada, Mexico, New Zealand and Turkey, but am always open to suggestions for new (field-oriented) research projects.  Projects typically involve a considerable laboratory component that includes geo/thermochronology (especially low-T systems) and stable isotope geochemistry (O and H), as well as X-ray and electron microbeam techniques (SEM, TEM). Also, several other colleagues at U-M are active in the general realm of tectonics, so you will find a vibrant and engaging research and learning environment at Michigan. 

Admission with full financial support is based on your record, but most importantly on having common research interests and goals.  The department invites each successful applicant for a campus visit in Feb/March (or phone interviews for overseas applicants), at which time we would have a chance to talk in person and to explore common interests.  We'd typically talk by phone after your application has been evaluated and prior to deciding on a visit.  Our graduate application officer, Anne Hudon (ahudon@umich.edu), can arrange for application materials and answer any programmatic questions you may have.

Potential post-docs and visitors should contact me with plans and goals, and relevant timelines. We offer ample opportunity for independent research. 

Please let me know if I can give you more information about our program beyond what is already posted on my website, http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/Ben/index.html.  My email is vdpluijm@umich.edu.

Note: If you plan to be at GSA or AGU, then please contact me to set a time to talk (during the meeting).  The default meeting place is the UM booth, where you will also find information and department staff with knowledge about the University of Michigan and our Earth Sciences program.

Ben

Back to Ben's homepage.