The department of Geophysics was started by the then Vice-chancellor, Pt. Govind Malviya with only one staff member, (Prof.) Jagdeo Singh, who subsequently got his Ph.D degree and training from Imperial college, Lonon. It functioned then with cooperation from the Department of Geology, Physics, Mathematics and college of engineering and mining (now IT BHU). . The Department of Geophysics, established in 1949, is one of the oldest pioneer centers of Geophysical education in the country. Prof. Rajnath was its first Head of the department. When the department of Geophysics got an independent space at its present location in 1964, Prof. H. S. Rathore became the Head of the department. Initially, two year M. Sc degree course in Geophysics was started. But when UGC made the countrywide amendment of the Master Degree course of Geophysics to be of three year course, the Department of Geophysics, BHU adopted the same degree course since 1976, leading to M. Sc (Tech.) Geophysics with specialization in exploration Geophysics and Meteorology. The Department is actively engaged in teaching of updated courses in exploration Geophysics and Meteorology to postgraduate students, in carrying out field investigations and collaborative work with different government/ quasi-government organizations and in offering consultancy services to the interested agencies. The first Ph.D. degree from the department was awarded in 1965. However, the department has produced 110 Ph. Ds. and about 650 research papers have been published in the national and international journals of repute. During last three decades, 27 research projects funded by various agencies like DST, ONGC, CGWB, UGC and CSIR have been completed. Many faculty members have been visited a number of foreign countries like U.S.A., England, Germany, Australia, Netherlands, Japan, Canada, Italy and Korea on various academic assignments and a few have been elected fellows of AEG and AGU. The department has got modern geophysical equipments. The department is also collaborating with India Meteorological Department, Govt. of India in maintaining a Weather Observatory, a Seismological Observatory and an Ozone Unit.

The Department of Geophysics has been supported by DST-FIST programme and a grant of Rs. 64.25 lacs has been sanctioned in 2003 for the infrastructure developments including equipments, library and laboratory updating, networking purposes etc. The department is equipped with modern geophysical equipments. The syllabus of M. Sc. (Tech.) Geophysics has been revised and updated regularly with more emphasis on computer aided applications in geophysical education.

The Department of Geophysics has successfully completed the glorious fifty years in 1999 and the Golden Jubilee Celebrations (1949-1999); though belated, were held in the first week of November, 2003. The department has also organized twelve national/ international seminars/ symposia/ workshops and the summer schools in different domains. Two national symposia on "Developments in Geophysical Sciences in India" and "Earthquake Processes and Seismic Hazards (EPSH)" were held in 2003 and 2005 respectively. A DST sponsored Group Monitoring Workshop on climate change was organized in December 2006.

The department has a sectional library with over 2000 books in exploration and meteorology. The department has several geophysical laboratories like seismic laboratory, electrical and electromagnetic laboratory, digital electronics laboratory and computer laboratory for computation and accessing Internet facility. All the faculty members have been provided each with latest personal computer and printing devices.

Department of Geophysics, Banaras Hindu University offers M.Sc. (Tech.) program covering contemporary and emerging fields of Geophysics having wide ranging interests to meet the growing needs of the industries. The rigorous academics and regular department-industry partnership help to prepare our students to keep pace with the changing times. The teaching program is backed by competent faculty members besides high quality academic infrastructure, which enables our students to be flexible enough to adapt and to come out with best possible solutions even in the most difficult situations. The faculty and students always strive hard to maintain its position of leadership in the various fields of Geophysics.

A large number of organizations have enjoyed lasting and fruitful relationship with us through the campus placement, which makes it evident that our alumni do deliver the best, with unmatched professional enthusiasm, to the companies/organizations they join. Our students have been selected by leading national and multinational companies/organizations.