The BA diploma (or equivalent) in Biology constitutes the basic admission criterion. We also require English language skills at B2 level confirmed by a diploma, certificate, or an entrance exam.
In 2017, the European Centre of Palaeobiology of the University of Opole opens a new international Master’s Degree programme in Palaeobiology at the Faculty of Natural and Technical Sciences, based on research provided by the Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Evolution (Chair of Biosystematics). We offer an opportunitiy to our students to conduct scientific research based on material collected in the Opole area. Here you may actually collect your study material yourself, for example, Carboniferous ichnofossils and plant remains, Triassic vertebrate and invertebrate fossils, Middle Jurassic and Upper Cretaceous mainly marine fauna, but also some plant remains, etc. Because since January 2016 the European Centre of Palaeontology has been linked to partners in Belgium, Germany and Portugal, we are open to new possibilities for scientific co-operation. If you have your own material or ideas, puzzling issues etc., we are open for those, and you are kindly invited to join us. Together, we will make sure to find the best way forward. Our programme includes courses oriented to new, very progressive trends in modern tourism, namely geological and palaeontological parks.
The Department of Biosystematics has ample experience in providing the study of biology, while the Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Evolution has been providing palaeobiological courses within this programme during the last 15 years, ever since the unique palaeontological discovery of the Triassic site of Krasiejów, a village near Opole, was made. The enormous palaeontological potential of this location is already widely known, having been the subject of numerous scientific publications as well as of BA, MA and PhD theses.
In addition, new palaeontological sites near Opole or even within the city limits have become part of our research. To name a few: Carboniferous deposits with ichnofossils and plant remains, Lower and Middle Triassic sediments with numerous vertebrate and invertebrate taxa, Middle Jurassic and Upper Cretaceous (Turonian–Coniacian) strata with mainly marine fauna. In short: there is no need for you to travel to other places in Europe or even further beyond to collect the study material for your scientific research.
Furthermore, a detailed geological study of this area as well as a stratigraphical synthesis are already available, so that we concentrate mostly on palaeobiology and geobiology with emphasis on palaeoecological, taphonomic and palaeobiogeographical aspects without any barriers of collecting materials or determination of its stratigraphical position.