Wide range of postgrads in institutes of technology and other third-levels

Dublin Institute of Technology

Top five courses:
1. MSc in Marketing
2. MSc in Strategic Management
3. MSc in Pharmaceutical Quality Assurance & Biotechnology
4. MSc in Supply Chain Management
5. MSc in Finance

Spotlight on . . . MSc in Supply Chain Management
There's a popular saying that society is always just "72 hours away from anarchy". In this scenario, an environmental disaster, a major terror attack or even serious political or economic disruption, could cause the shop shelves to fall bare. Riots and social unrest would ensue. Crudely put, it's the job of a supply chain manager to prevent this scenario by keeping goods and services flowing, considering purchasing, warehousing and transport. They need to make sure that, if a disaster or problem knocks out one component of the supply chain – such as an earthquake, political breakdown or corporate bankruptcy – they can source what they need elsewhere.

Every business with a product to sell needs to buy supplies: think of the need to get animal feed, paper or metal in order to create a product to sell. Then, they need to get it to market. A supply chain manager has to get the product out of a human’s brain, get the materials to produce it and get it to the customer. Supply chain managers are vital for the export industry and there’s still a strong demand for them. This is a one-year, full-time course that addresses both theoretical and applied aspects of the subject and will be of interest to people who want to work in manufacturing, process, retail, transport and logistics.

Fees: €7,400.

Cork Institute of Technology

Top five courses:
1. MSc in Cloud Computing
2. MSc Computational Biology
3. MSc Construction Project Management
4. MA in Journalism with New Media
5. MA in Play Therapy

Spotlight on . . . MA in Journalism with New Media
Last month, the editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post UK defended the website's model of not paying writers because it's not "a real authentic way of presenting copy. When somebody writes something for us, we know it's real, we know they want to write it. It's not been forced or paid for."

Such statements make it easy to despair for the future of journalism. And, while the third-levels are churning out more journalists than there are jobs in the industry, a master’s in journalism makes more sense than an undergraduate degree.

Courses with an emphasis on digital and new media are particularly worth a look; many of the graduates won’t necessarily be working in a national newsroom, but they should be equipped for jobs across the media industry, including in production, and in public relations and communications.

This is a one-year, full-time course. They have good links with industry, particularly the Cork-based Irish Examiner, but the lack of a work placement isn't ideal.

Fees: €4,140

Waterford IT

Top five courses:
1. MA in Management in Education
2. MA in Teaching & Learning in Further Education
3. MSc in Computing (Enterprise Software Systems)
4. MSc in Business in Global Financial Information Systems
5. Master of Business – options in management, marketing, economics and finance and human resource management

Spotlight on . . . MSc in Computing (Enterprise Software Systems)
This is offered as a two-year part-time course although it can be completed in one year on a full-time basis. It is targeted at IT professionals and is designed to develop and refine ICT skills. Students will learn about business systems analysis and enterprise software development.

If all goes well, graduates should emerge with reasoning and problem-solving abilities to work with enterprise software, know how to strategically deploy and manage this software, undertake research-based projects for industry and provide effective advice, and manage technology projects.

On the way, they’ll learn research methods and choose from modules including computer systems, business and analysis and software development.

Fees: €275 per five-credit module or € 550 per 10 credit module.

GMIT

Top five courses:
1. M Sc in Environmental Resource Management
2. Higher Diploma in Science in Software Development
3. ACCA Professional
4. Post Graduate Diploma in Accounting
5. International M Sc in Marine Biodiversity and Conservation

Spotlight on . . . International MSc in Marine Biodiversity and Conservation
The continued acidification of the oceans is very bad news for life on land. This course provides a grounding in the structure and function of marine biodiversity and emphasises how we can restore and conserve the seas, preparing graduates for careers as marine biologists, oceanographers, contract scientific divers, fisheries biologists, ocean and coastal policy coordinators and marine park managers.

It’s a two-year programme, with practical and lab work at its core, which is run in conjunction with five other European universities and a worldwide network of more than 45 members.

Everyone on this course studies in at least two European universities and, every spring, students from across Europe come together in Sweden to collaborate on special research projects.

Fees: At €2,500 a year, it is significantly cheaper than most master's programmes.

Limerick IT

Top five courses:
1. Professional Master of Education in Art and Design with Digital Media*
2. MA in Art and Design Education
3. MA in Social Practice & the Creative Environment
4. MBS in Marketing and Management Strategy
5. MSc in Quantity Surveying

Spotlight on . . . Professional Master of Education in Art and Design with Digital Media
The single most popular master's level course at LIT is the Professional Master of Education in Art and Design with Digital Media.

This course is for people who have a bachelor of fine art and who want to qualify as art and design teachers. Uniquely, it focuses on digital media and social networking platforms, with a particular emphasis on their importance to young people and their role in education. The people coming out of this course are qualified art and design teachers with a digital design portfolio. They’re also artists.

This is a two-year course and all applicants have to be Garda vetted.

Fees: €5,400 a year.

IADT Dún Laoghaire

Top five courses:
1. MSc in Cyberpsychology
2. MSc in User Experience Design
3. MA in Broadcast Production for Radio and Television
4. MA in Screenwriting for film and Television
5. MA in Art and Research Collaboration

Spotlight on . . . MSc in Cyberpsychology
Revenge porn, data protection, hacking and online threats have made cyberpsychology one of the most important and cutting-edge of all disciplines, and IADT's course offering is among the most interesting.

This is a two-year, full-time course which provides graduates with an in-depth understanding of how people interact with technology and online environments.

How can we identify key psychological concepts relevant to the virtual world? How can we predict emerging and future trends in technology use? How best to advise on the use of current technologies and work within an online community? The course addresses all of these issues.

Graduates from this course have found work with employers or organisations who have an online presence or are in the process of developing one, who are trying to use ICT to help people and who work with young people and technology, in industries as diverse as marketing, journalism, education and IT.

Students undertake a research project in year two.

Fees: €4,000 a year.

Dundalk IT

Top five courses:
1. MBS in Marketing and Entrepreneurship
2. MA in Traditional Music Studies
3. MSc in Computing
4. MSc in Renewable Energy Systems
5. MSc in Ageing Health and Environment

Spotlight on . . . MSc in Renewable Energy Systems
Dundalk IT has carved out a strong reputation for its research and teaching around renewable energy. This part-time course is covered across three semesters (about 15 months).

Students will learn about wind, solar and water energy, as well as bio-energy, and will carry out a research thesis in their final semester. There’s also a focus on energy policy and economics. Dundalk IT says it has possibly the only wind turbine on a college campus in the world.

Job opportunities in the renewable energy sector show no sign of slowing down, and there are chances to work in research, design and development both in Ireland and abroad.

Fees: €7,650

National College of Art and Design

Top five courses:
1. Professional Master’s in Education (Art & Design) MFA in Design
2. MFA in Fine Art
3. MA in Interaction Design
4. MSc in Medical Device Design
5. MA/MFA Art in the Contemporary World

Spotlight on . . . MFA in Design
The MFA Design is a new full-time, two-year taught master's programme providing a programme of study and studio practice, covering a range of design disciplines with three distinct pathways in product design, communication design and design for body and environment (textiles for fashion and accessory design).

In the first year of the MFA Design, students take a number of core taught modules combining critical study and specialist studio practice, together with interdisciplinary options, before proceeding in the second year to advanced research with a choice of a reflective body of writing or business plan culminating in the production of a major studio project for exhibition, commission or industry application.

Under the guidance of staff who are themselves leading designers, students develop a personal and professional identity as well as a proficiency in design and technique.

Students learn through a mixture of workshops, lectures, tutorials, industry collaboration and, most importantly, through their own creative practice as emerging professionals.

The MFA Design has extensive industry links and a visiting lecture programme of leading industry and creative practitioners. Student work will be exhibited through work in progress and final shows – all are encouraged to exhibit their work in appropriate gallery and industry contexts.

Students have the opportunity to undertake short placements and live projects with cultural and industry partners working with fellow students across the college.

MFA Design graduates will have access to a wide range of local and global opportunities in industry, services, and design consultancy or as creative entrepreneurs, designer makers and educators.

Cost: €5,300 a year.

Royal College of Surgeons Ireland

Top three courses:
1. Post Graduate Diploma in Nursing (Specialist Practice)
2. M Sc courses in Healthcare Management and Leadership
3. Doctoral Programme (leading to an award of an MD or a PhD)

Spotlight on . . . Doctoral programme
You can't get a higher scholarly award. This level 10 (leading to an award of MD or a PhD) is a four-year programme where students contribute to innovations and new knowledge in medicine.

Candidates work in a health-sciences-focused educational and research environment and are encouraged to create new knowledge in their field of study, contributing to improved treatments for diseases, tackling healthcare delivery issues, informing healthcare policy and improving clinical practice.

Fees: €6,550 per year over four years, or €4,370 for a minimum five-year registration

Athlone IT

Top five courses: 
1. Master of Business Studies 
2. MA in Child and Youth Care 
3. MA in Accounting 
4. MA in Advanced Social Care 
5. MSc in Software Engineering

Spotlight on . . . MA in Advanced Social Care
This is delivered through Athlone IT's Postgraduate Steps programme, which allows students to take the course module by module, based on their professional needs to earn a master's or postgraduate diploma at their own pace.

It is designed for people working in social care who want to extend their knowledge and skills around policy, quality and strategy in the sector.

Modules include challenging behaviours, promoting inclusion through person-centred planning, approaches to supporting families, care for older people and, among others, preventing and resolving interpersonal conflict.

Fees: €750 per module.

Tralee IT

Top five courses:
1. MSc in Nursing
2. MA in Creative Media
3. MBA
4. MA in Social Studies – Advanced Professional Practice 5. MSc in Adapted Physical Activity Leadership

Spotlight on . . . MSc in Nursing This is a one-year, full-time programme which aims to develop postgraduates with an advanced level of knowledge in nursing and to become leaders in clinical practice within management, research and/or education.

Modules include leadership, evidence-based professional practice, research methodology and project design, and developing practice in primary healthcare. Students also undertake a dissertation in the second semester.

Fees: €6,735.

IT Carlow

Top five courses:
1. MSc in Sports Performance Analysis
2. MSc in Digital Marketing
3. MSc in Interaction Design
4. MSc in Medical Device Regulatory Affairs
5. MSc in Information Technology Management

Spotlight on . . . MSc in Sports Performance Analysis
This one-year full-time/two- year part-time course has been developed in response to the growth in demand for skills knowledge including technical and tactical analysis, key performance indicators, coaching behaviour and movement analysis, as well as pre-match, live and post-match analysis.

It’s a highly vocational programme and carefully aligned to the needs of industry.

Fees: €7,000.

IT Sligo

Top five courses:
1. MSc in Biopharmaceutical Science
2. MSc in Industrial Pharmaceutical Science
3. MSc in Medical Technology Regulatory Affairs
4. MA in Leadership in Early Childhood and Education
5. MSc in Quality

Spotlight on . . . MSc in Biopharmaceutical Science
A part-time, online master's programme developed by IT Sligo with the National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training (NIBRT) to meets the needs of the biopharma industry, and to provide graduates with jobs in the biotechnology, biopharma and medical biotech industries. Particularly suitable for science and engineering graduates who wish to upskill or cross skill.

This is delivered across 30 months. There are also elective practical placement in NIBRT, which is in Dublin.

Fees: €12,000.

Letterkenny IT

Top five courses:
1. Master of Arts in Motion Graphics, also Master of Arts in Teaching and Learning
2. MSc in Marketing Practice
3. MSc in Management Practice
4. MA in Accounting
5. MSc in Computing in Systems and Software Security

IT Blanchardstown

Top three courses:
1. MSc Computing (Business Intelligence and Data Mining)
2. MSc Computing (Information Security and Digital Forensics)
3. Master of Business