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Coordinated by the Department of Geography, Geoinformatics and Meteorology.

The Centre for Environmental Studies is a graduate school for multidisciplinary training and research focusing on the environment. Training aims to satisfy the need for environmental professionals for implementing current environmental legislation as well as industry-driven environmental management systems.

The extensions to the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA) promulgated after 2005 affect environmental management in South Africa in a profound way. In particular, the Air Quality Act brings South African legislation into line with international trends. The metro councils are charged with the responsibility of implementing the Act at the local level. In addition, companies need appropriate expertise to obtain licenses for their air quality management plans. This focus area serves to provide suitable expertise for the implementation of the above legislation by industry by training graduates specialised for careers in air quality management. On completion of the training, candidates should be conversant and be able to partake in, or render advice concerning the legislative requirements with respect to air quality management, modelling of and measurement of air pollution and the interpretation of pollution plumes, the measurement and interpretation of chemical air pollution as well as dust pollution, international agreements and requirements as well as the effects of air pollution on humans.

The MSc degree is conferred on the grounds of a dissertation and such additional postgraduate coursework as may be prescribed.

Renewal of registration
As long as progress is satisfactory, renewal of the registration of a master’s student will be accepted for the second year of the study. Registration for a third and subsequent years will only take place when the Student Administration of the Faculty receives a written motivation that is supported by the relevant head of department and Postgraduate Studies Committee.

General
Candidates are required to familiarise themselves with the General Regulations regarding the maximum period of registration and the requirements on the submission of a draft article for publication.

• Admission is dependent on the candidate being in possession of an appropriate BScHons degree (or equivalent degree with the status thereof) as evaluated by the Director of the Centre and the head(s) of the particular department(s). In the selection procedure the candidate's complete undergraduate and honours academic record will be considered. Admission is also subject to the availability of a suitable supervisor for the study. The study will involve a research dissertation under supervision of an academic staff member(s) of the University of Pretoria, during which the candidate should prove that he/she is able to write a research article for a peer-reviewed scientific journal. Additional modules in related topics may be prescribed for students, depending on their academic background.
• Admission is additionally dependent on availability of supervisor/s and/or projects within the department.

Candidates must demonstrate proficiency in the English language up to the level required by either the TOEFL test (www.ets.org/toefl) or the IELTS language proficiency test (www.ielts.org).

The progress of all master's candidates is monitored biannually by the supervisor and the postgraduate coordinator. A candidate's study may be terminated if the progress is unsatisfactory or if the candidate is unable to finish his/her studies during the prescribed period.

Subject to exceptions approved by the Dean, on recommendation of the relevant head of department, and where applicable, a student may not enter for the master's examination in the same module more than twice.

The MSc degree is conferred with distinction to candidates who obtain a final average mark of at least 75% and a mark of at least 75% for the dissertation/mini-dissertation from each of the members of the examination panel. Where a member of the examination panel awards a mark of less than 75% for the dissertation/mini-dissertation, that member of the examination panel must offer, in writing, support for his/her decision, or indicate in writing that he/she supports the examination committee's decision to confer the degree with distinction.