Membership & Chartership

The geological data may be acquired in the field in one or more of the following ways: 

• at outcrop
• by intrusive investigations (boreholes, pits, etc)
• by geophysical or geotechnical surveys or other remote sensing. 
• It may also be experimental data (including laboratory-based investigations or computer modelling).

Supporting evidence could include:

• examples of work carried out and interpretations made, including the reasoning used;
• contribution to the development of solutions;
• the level of decisions undertaken in the workplace;
• output reports and publications; and
• contribution to evaluation of the outputs.

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(iii) Effective communication in writing (a) and orally (b)

Written Reports are the primary evidence of written communication skills. Thus, template reports should be used here sparingly, if at all.

Supporting evidence may include:

Materials which demonstrate communication skills both within the workplace and also socially and outside the workplace.

(iv) Competence in the management of Health and Safety and Environmental issues, and in the observance of all other statutory obligations applicable to your discipline or area of work.

The evidence should also demonstrate sound knowledge of sustainable development best practice and implementation and management of such practices

Supporting evidence of satisfactory attainment could include:

• records showing how H&S issues are managed as part of day to day work for the applicant and others;
• a summary of the Applicant’s H&S responsibilities;
• non-generic risk assessments made by the Applicant
• examples of implementation of H&S policies; 
• responses to incidents (including near misses) and subsequent investigations and
• knowledge of Environmental legislation and environmental protection practice.

(v) Clear understanding of the meaning and needs of professionalism including a clear understanding of the Code of Conduct and commitment to its implementation.

Applicants meeting this criterion will be able to demonstrate an understanding of:

• The need to meet deadlines, 
• to behave professionally and ethically at all times in accordance with the Society’s Codes of Conduct 
• and must fully understand the requirements of the Code, giving relevant examples of its application in their professional actions, activities and decisions.

This is largely assessed at interview and the Applicant must be prepared to provide examples of compliance with the Codes and discuss professionally ethical behaviour.

(vi) Commitment to Continuing Professional Development throughout your professional career.

In addition to providing a minimum of 3 years of existing CPD records, Applicants are asked to describe their CPD aims and objectives and to give examples of specific CPD activities enabling them to meet these objectives.

Supporting evidence of satisfactory attainment could include:

• a 3 to 5-year Career Aspiration Plan, using an annual plan – act – reflect cycle
• records of CPD* through a formal reporting scheme supported by evidence of analysis of scientific and professional development needs; and
• actions taken to satisfy these needs, including critical review of how successful these actions were.

(vii) Competence in your area of expertise.

A clear understanding of the limits of their expertise is expected.

Supporting evidence of satisfactory attainment could include:

• relevant sections from job description and written examples of contributions to key tasks;
• examples of the Applicant’s role in project planning, organisation of tasks, use of people and resources, managing changing technical and project needs;
• written examples of personal contributions to key tasks; 
• examples of preparing and implementing quality-related processes; and
• examples of projects for which they had responsibility for design, Implementation, interpretation of data collected and presentation of conclusions.

Chartered Scientist

There are five qualifying criteria for Chartered Scientist

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A. Application of knowledge and understanding

Applicants meeting this criterion will be able to demonstrate competence in:

A1 the use of specialist experiential knowledge and broader scientific understanding to optimise the application of existing and emerging science and technology;

A2 the exercise of sound judgement in the absence of complete information and in complex or unpredictable situations; and

A3 the critical evaluation of relevant scientific information and concepts to propose solutions to problems

Evidence may include:

• writing and presenting internal papers, reports or standards;
• conducting appropriate research to facilitate design and development of scientific processes;
• considering when you have approached a piece of work or project flexibly and in a novel or different way, or reacted to an unexpected outcome;
• engaging in experimental design and testing;
• reviewing relevant literature, manuals or designs; and
• sharing your findings with others.

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B. Personal Responsibility 

Applicants meeting this criterion will be able to demonstrate competence in:

B1 working autonomously and taking responsibility for the work of self and others;

B2 promoting and implementing robust policies and protocols relating to health, safety and security;

B3 promoting and ensuring compliance with all relevant regulatory requirements and quality standards; and

B4 overseeing the implementation of solutions with due regard to the wider environment and broader context.

Supporting evidence could include:

• you will be expected to undertake much of your work without day-to-day supervision and so you should demonstrate that you are able to achieve this;
• you should demonstrate your understanding of when you may need to seek guidance from others and how you would obtain this guidance;
• if you are responsible for managing the work of others, you should clearly describe how you discharge those responsibilities;
• documenting how relevant aspects of your work must be carried out. Demonstrate that you know where these policies and protocols are documented, and that you are able to apply them in your practice;
• what risks you are aware of related to the security aspects of the work you carry out, and how you seek to mitigate these risks;
• how you “promote” the awareness and application of these policies and protocols with others, especially peers and more junior colleagues;
• describing what you do to ensure that these requirements and standards are being followed for those activities for which you are responsible;
• describing how you “promote” the awareness of regulatory requirements and quality standards amongst peers and more junior colleagues;
• indicating that you are aware of the sensitivity of your work and show how this understanding translates into the ways in which you carry out your work;
• showing an awareness of how your profession is portrayed and viewed by the public at large, and how you take responsibility for recognising this in the work you do;
• describing how you seek to avoid reputational damage related to the work you carry out; and
• explaining how you set a good example to others in the way you discharge the responsibilities related to the work you undertake.

C. Interpersonal skills

Applicants meeting this criterion will be able to demonstrate competence in:

C1 the ability to communicate effectively with specialist and non-specialist audiences;

C2 effective leadership through the ability to guide, influence, inspire and empathise with others; and

C3 the ability to mediate, develop and maintain positive working relationships

Supporting evidence may include:

• indicating how you have communicated in a way that is effective to each type of audience;
• experiences of mentoring or coaching you have had; you should consider how effective this was and the overall impact;
• considering when you have managed change within your organisation or overseen the implementation of any new processes;
• how you have managed the merger or integration of different teams;
• managing working relationships across different departments or organisations;
• interactions with committees, working groups or other professional body activities;
• how you have managed and resolved a difficult relationship situation between members of a team for which you are responsible.

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D. Professional Practice

Applicants meeting this criterion will be able to demonstrate competence in the ability:

D1 to scope, plan and manage multifaceted projects;

D2 to achieve desired outcomes with the effective management of resources and risks; and

D3 to take responsibility for continuous performance improvement at both a personal level and in a wider organisational context.

Supporting evidence may include:

• an operational project utilising resources across several disciplines;
• a change management project aligning processes across sites;
• an industry-wide project establishing guidance on technical standards and requirements;
• identifying the resources (people and/or money) needed to undertake the activities;
• monitoring and surveillance of the progress of the activities;
• identification, evaluation and implementation of changes that may be needed to ensure the activities are successfully completed;
• identification and management of risks that could impact on the successful completion of the activities;
• identification of lessons learned from activities undertaken by yourself or by others for whom you are responsible, such as what went well, went badly or was lacking;
• evaluation of the performance of specialists’ methods and tools used;
• development of recommendations for future enhancements or modifications to procedures or working practices in order to achieve performance improvements; and
• description of examples where your actions have led to performance improvement by yourself or others

E. Professionalism

Applicants meeting this criterion will be able to demonstrate competence in the ability:

E1 to understand and comply with relevant codes of conduct; and

E2 to show a commitment to professional development through continuing advancement of own knowledge, understanding and competence.

Supporting evidence may include:

• standards of professional practice in respect of your profession, employer, clients or patients;
• standards of professional behaviour in respect of attitudes, respect and confidentiality;
• standards of professional competence in respect of personal development and the development of others;
• a 3 to 5-year Career Aspiration Plan, using an annual plan – act – reflect cycle;
• records of CPD* through a formal reporting scheme supported by evidence of analysis of scientific and professional development needs; and
• actions taken to satisfy these needs, including critical review of how successful these actions were.

NB: The competencies for CGeol and CSci do not generally cross-correlate

Regulations

To read the full eligibility requirements and criteria for validation as a Chartered Geologist and Chartered Scientist see the regulations

Regulation R/FP/2: Criteria and Procedure for Validation as a Chartered Geologist

Regulation R/FP/11: Criteria and Procedure for Validation as a Chartered Scientist