The commission on teaching and training in engineering geology, established during the IAEG congress in Paris in 1970, produced its final report in 1978, published in Bulletin #18, 9-14. It was prepared by William Dearman and Ricardo Oliveira. At that time there was a period of significant expansion of engineering geology in education and the subject was introduced in a significant manner and in real terms in more geology and civil engineering university departments worldwide. At the same time a growth in the number of graduate courses in engineering
geology was observed. In many university undergraduate programmes, the general geology courses, often called “geology for engineers”, were extended or replaced by “engineering geology” courses. However, old habits still remain today within a number of universities, so the suggestions of this commission remain opportune. The content of the commission’s report was based on a widely distributed questionnaire. Recommendations and information on teaching and training in engineering geology #106 The International Association for Engineering Geology and the Environment: 50 years were presented. Syllabi for a BSc style course and an MSc course were also reported. Among the results of the research of this commission it is worth mentioning that the
general opinion was that an undergraduate course in geology, followed by a one-year postgraduate course in engineering geology, is the preferred path for the production
of engineering geologists. Moreover, it was felt strongly that some experience between the two courses was desirable. There were few cases that considered it optimal to educate on engineering geology at the undergraduate level. Some responses considered that an engineering geological post graduate course could be taken by civil and mining engineering graduates in addition to geologists, provided they had the necessary geological background. The work of the commission concludes with a clear agreement that an engineering geologist should have: (a) a good basic geological background, (b) a good background in mathematics and physics including mechanics, (c) a good understanding of soil mechanics and rock mechanics, (d) a good knowledge of engineering geology, including site investigation methods, testing and treatment of the ground and the methodologies for the study of engineering works.