The Centre for Observation and Modelling of Earthquakes, Volcanoes and Tectonics (COMET) uses satellite measurements alongside ground-based observations and geophysical models to study earthquakes and volcanoes, and help understand the hazards they pose.
A national-scale community with considerable size and impact, COMET brings together world-leading scientists across the British Geological Survey (BGS) and 14 UK universities: Bristol, Cambridge, Cardiff, East Anglia, Exeter, Imperial, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle, Oxford, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Sheffield and UCL. We work closely with the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), National Centre for Earth Observation (NCEO) and European Space Agency (ESA), as well as many other national and international partners.
UK Volcanic Gas Meeting June 22-23, 2023
Register at: UK Volcanic Degassing Meeting 2023 Registration (google.com)
Watch the latest COMET webinar
Miss Cindy Lim Shin Yee/ Dr Lin Shen/Dr Samantha Engwell present Webinar on International Women’s Day, celebrating the brilliant work by women scientists.
Türkiye-Syria Earthquakes, February 2023
Read the full COMET article here.
International Women & Girls in Science Day 2023
COMET celebrates International Women & Girls in Science Day 2023 by promoting some of the high-quality science that women have achieved, as part of and in collaboration with members of COMET.
COMET Webinar Series 2023
20 February 2023, 3pm UK time (3pm UTC/4pm CET/7am PDT)
Kevin Wong (University of Bologna/University of Leeds)
pyMelt: new pythonic methods for calculating the petrological behaviour of Earth’s melting mantle
Please register at: Webinar Registration – Zoom
(After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information on how to join the webinar)
COMET Annual Report 2021/2022
The latest COMET Annual Report 2021/2022 is now available to view. Please click here.
COMET at AGU Fall Meeting 2022
Follow COMET’s talks and posters at this year’s AGU Fall Meeting 12-16 December via Twitter or view the schedule here.
COMET Webinar Series 2022
View the COMET 2022 webinar presentations here.
InSAR Training Workshop 2022
COMET’s InSAR Training Workshop 2022, will be held both in-person and online at the University of Leeds from 16-18 November.
Either register your interest to attend in-person or register to attend online:
In-person: eventbrite.co.uk/e/comet-insar-
Online: eventbrite.co.uk/e/comet-insar-
2023 Bullerwell Lecturer Prize
COMET is pleased to announce, COMET associate, Dr Zoe Mildon from University of Plymouth, has been awarded the Bullerwell Lecturer 2023 prize.
Dr Susanna Ebmeier awarded 2022 AGU John Wahr Early Career Award
COMET is pleased to announce Dr Susanna Ebmeier is the latest recipient of the 2022 John Wahr Early Career Award in the Geodesy section.
COMET Webinar 2022
View the webinar schedule for over the coming months:
Date: Wednesday 24th August 4pm UK / 5pm CEST / 8am PDT
Speakers: CH Wendy Tsai (University of Oxford) & Aisling O’Kane (University of Cambridge)
Please register:
https://universityofleeds.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Fo8NgKmBQ9W8ryWv-rHGcQ
COMET Research Internships
Are you a student wanting to gain experience of undertaking scientific research and a flavour of what PhD study is like?
COMET are offering two students an exciting six-week research internship during summer 2022.
Apply and see more details here: https://comet.nerc.ac.uk/comet-vacancies/
COMET Webinar 2022
View the webinar schedule for over the coming months:
Date: Wednesday 22nd June 4pm UK / 5pm CEST / 8am PDT
Speaker: Qi Ou (University of Leeds)
Title: Large-scale strain mapping over the northeast Tibetan Plateau
Please register:
https://universityofleeds.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_SvE0Bwr3TRWv4C0ZWk1I7g
Professor Tamsin Mather and Professor Marie Edmonds receive the honorary title of Geochemistry Fellow

View the latest COMET news story here:
2022 Program of Online Lectures on Earthquakes and Earthquake Hazards in Central Asia
Date: Monday 28th February 2022
Speaker: Victoria Stevens from the Earth Observatory of Singapore
Title: The Relationship between Strain Rate and Seismicity in the India-Asia Collision Zone: Implications for Probabilistic Seismic Hazard.
COMET Postdoc Opportunity – Bristol
More details: COMET vacancies – Centre for the Observation and Modelling of Earthquakes, Volcanoes and Tectonics (nerc.ac.uk)
COMET Webinars 2022
View the webinar schedule for over the coming months:
Date: Wednesday 23rd Feb 4pm UK / 5pm CET / 8am PST
Student Webinar: Sophie Miocevich (Uni. Cambridge) & Dan Gittins (Uni. Oxford)
Titles: Testing the importance of sagduction: Insights from the structure and petrology of the Lewisian Gneiss Complex, northwest Scotland & Characterizing the along-strike length of creep events along the San Andreas Fault.
Register: Webinar Registration – Zoom
PhD Opportunities
View the latest COMET PhD opportunities here:
Watch the latest COMET webinar
Dr Luke Wedmore (University of Bristol) presented a webinar on Wednesday the 19th January 2022 about:
East African seismic hazard: continental rifting of thick lithosphere
Thinking of applying for a PhD?
Watch a webinars supported by COMET, where SENSE CDT and their panelists discuss how to apply for PhDs:
25th November 2021: Support for PhD applications
Dr Tim Craig, COMET Scientist, winner of the 2022 EGU Geodynamics Division Outstanding Early Career Scientist Award
Professor Greg Houseman, COMET Emeritus Scientist, elected a Fellow of The Royal Society
The Global Waveform Catalogue
The Global Waveform Catalogue hosted by COMET is now available and fully interactive.
Watch the latest COMET webinar
Dr Isabelle Taylor gives a COMET webinar:
Measurements of volcanic plumes with the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI)
Watch the latest COMET+ webinar
Prof Endra Gunawan gives a COMET+ webinar:
Present-day crustal deformation of Java, Indonesia using GPS data
The COMET+ webinar series aims to promote research collaborators of COMET scientists, particularly early-career researchers and those from under-represented groups. The goal is to provide a platform for these researchers to showcase their work to large and international audiences, opening doors to broader collaborative networks and enhancing the community’s diversity of backgrounds and ideas.
COMET Director Professor Tim Wright presented a free public lecture, ‘Monitoring our hazardous planet from space’, as part of the Royal Astronomical Society’s Bicentenary celebrations on 25th September 2020. Watch (or rewatch!) the lecture on YouTube: