Academic & career pathways
Where to study it
A filterable directory of universities offering real paleontology programs — tiles link straight to the program or lab page, not the university homepage. Filter by whether the program runs its own field expeditions, teams, and museum placements, or is a ranked program built around coursework.
University of Alberta
FlagshipEdmonton, Canada
Paleontology (Faculty of Science) + PALEO 400 field school
Philip Currie and Eva Koppelhus run the Danek Bonebed field school, Edmonton's own dinosaur dig site, active since 2008.
University of Chicago
FlagshipChicago, United States
Sereno Fossil Lab, Organismal Biology and Anatomy
Paul Sereno's Fossil Lab runs decades-long expeditions to the Sahara and Argentina, feeding directly into a Field Museum research affiliation.
University of Bristol
FlagshipBristol, United Kingdom
MSc Palaeobiology, School of Earth Sciences
Ranked first in the world for palaeontology (Center for World University Rankings, 2017).
University of Edinburgh
FlagshipEdinburgh, United Kingdom
MScR Palaeontology and Geobiology, School of GeoSciences
Stephen Brusatte co-directs the only programme of its kind in the UK; students join fieldwork on the Isle of Skye.
Montana State University
FlagshipBozeman, Montana, United States
Earth Sciences (Paleontology option) + Museum of the Rockies
Direct pipeline into one of the largest dinosaur collections in the country, built on Jack Horner's research legacy.
Southern Methodist University
FlagshipDallas, Texas, United States
Institute for the Study of Earth and Man (ISEM)
Louis Jacobs's ISEM runs active field programs in Angola, Antarctica, Alaska, and Mongolia.
University of Portsmouth
FlagshipPortsmouth, United Kingdom
BSc (Hons) Palaeontology
The only UK degree of its kind, with regular field trips to the Isle of Wight and the Jurassic Coast and an active research team led by Dave Martill.
Yale University
FlagshipNew Haven, Connecticut, United States
Peabody Museum, Division of Vertebrate Paleontology
One of the oldest vertebrate fossil collections in North America, with its own active field collecting programs in the Triassic Southwest and the K/T boundary.
UC Berkeley
FlagshipBerkeley, California, United States
UC Museum of Paleontology (UCMP)
Funds its own graduate field research through fellowships like the Gregory Fellowship, tied to one of the largest university paleontological collections in the world.
University of the Witwatersrand
FlagshipJohannesburg, South Africa
Evolutionary Studies Institute (formerly Bernard Price Institute)
Africa's leading palaeosciences centre, with an unbroken Karoo Basin fieldwork program dating back to 1945.
Universidad Nacional de La Plata
FlagshipLa Plata, Argentina
Museo de La Plata, División Paleontología Vertebrados
A working research museum with its own active lines on sauropodomorph evolution, anchored in Patagonia's fossil-rich formations.
University of Queensland
FlagshipBrisbane, Australia
UQ Dinosaur Lab
Steve Salisbury's lab has led expeditions across remote Queensland and the Kimberley, including the reinterpretation of the Lark Quarry dinosaur "stampede."
University of Bonn
FlagshipBonn, Germany
MSc Paleontology
The only university in Germany offering a dedicated paleontology MSc, covering vertebrate, invertebrate, micro-, and paleobotany in one department.
University of Texas at Austin
FlagshipAustin, Texas, United States
Jackson School of Geosciences, Texas Vertebrate Paleontology Collections
An active field program running for more than 125 years, with holdings among the seven largest vertebrate fossil collections in North America.
University of Kansas
FlagshipLawrence, Kansas, United States
KU Biodiversity Institute, Vertebrate Paleontology
Ranked #1 among U.S. public schools for paleontology by U.S. News & World Report (2025).
University of Michigan
RankedAnn Arbor, Michigan, United States
Museum of Paleontology, undergraduate program
Graduate researchers are advised by museum faculty across multiple academic departments rather than through one dedicated field program.
Stony Brook University
RankedStony Brook, New York, United States
PhD in Anatomical Sciences, vertebrate paleontology track
Alan Turner's lab trains students in vertebrate morphology and paleobiology with a dedicated fossil preparation lab and CT facilities.
University of Leicester
RankedLeicester, United Kingdom
Geology with Palaeontology, BSc / MGeol
A structured undergraduate track building from foundational palaeontology to a specialist dissertation, with a first-year field trip to the Isle of Arran.
Uppsala University
RankedUppsala, Sweden
MSc Earth Science – Palaeobiology
Also the Uppsala leg of PANGEA, an international joint master's in palaeobiology with partner universities in France, Portugal, and Greece.
University of Cape Town
RankedCape Town, South Africa
Geological Sciences, Palaeontology & Sedimentology
Palaeontology is a compulsory Honours module tied to ongoing research into the Karoo Basin's Gondwanan fossil record.
Also teaching paleontology
Real programs at real institutions, on-site and remote/online, that make up the bulk of global paleontology education — listed here by name rather than deep-linked, since they haven't each been individually checked against a specific program page yet.