Agriculture & Food Science - Research
At the heart of UCD's research strategy is the ambition to address the challenges that will shape Ireland's future and its role in the wider world. The UCD School of Agriculture and Food Science's research programmes address key national issues including environment, energy, forestry, agri-food, health, and the development of evidence based policy. These align with many of the current global challenges in areas such as energy, food shortage and the environment.
Students undertaking graduate research degrees within the School have an opportunity to contribute to these nationally and internationally important areas of research while developing their knowledge of their area of research and honing their research skills. As a school we harness the complementary energies of research and teaching to drive graduate education. Our goal is to produce confident, highly-skilled graduates with the potential to make major scientific contributions to the knowledge economy, both in Ireland and abroad.
Graduate research degrees are available at Masters and PhD level.
Research Masters Programme
A Research Masters typically takes 1-2 years full-time or 3-4 years part-time to complete. The examination for the degree of Research Masters is based on the preparation of a research-based thesis under the supervision of an academic member of staff.
PhD Research Programme
A PhD typically takes 3-4 years full-time or 5-6 years part-time to complete. The examination for the degree of PhD is based on a description of the candidate's research written up as a thesis and defended in a viva voce (oral) examination.
Entry requirements
Check admission requirements:
Research Masters and PhD applicants should normally hold a primary degree equivalent to a Level 8 Second Class Honours Grade 1 or higher.
For non-native English speakers, an English language certificate is required: IELTS overall score of 6.5, with a minimum of 6.0 in each section; TOEFL – In the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), a minimum score from 600 paper based TOEFL (with a minimum score of 475 in the Test of Written English), aminimum score of 90 is required in the Internet based TOEFL (iBT) with a score of at least 20 in the each section. Further information can be found at UCD English Language Requirements.
Duration
D005: MAgrSc 2 years full-time, 4 years part-time.
D017: MSc 2 years full-time, 4 years part-time.
D021: MSc(Agr) 2 years full-time, 4 years part-time.
D001: PhD 3 years full-time, 6 years part-time.