Computer Science - Future Networked Systems

The course deals with how things become smart and connected as software systems are more and more embedded in our everyday environments, from mobile social networking to managing city resources such as road traffic. Dealing with such large-scale, cyber-physical and distributed systems requires novel approaches that address timeliness, safety, privacy and scale challenges. The course equips students with the skills and knowledge to tackle such challenges and take up careers in Computer Networking and related areas, which have transformed society over the past 30 years and continue to enable new advances from Social Networking through Internet-of-Things to Cloud computing.

Is This Course For Me?
This course is designed for graduates from a computing or closely related undergraduate background. Candidates with a good undergraduate Honours degree in disciplines such as engineering, mathematics, or statistics are also encouraged to apply, if they have acquired good programming skills. Candidates will be required to provide evidence of their computing skills and experience.

The full M.Sc. programme, comprising 90 ECTS credits, takes one full calendar year to complete and leads to the qualification of M.Sc. in Computer Science – Future Networked Systems, a Level 9 award under the Irish National Framework for Qualifications (NFQ).

Between September and April, students attend two 12-week teaching semesters, each followed by an assessment period, where they take a range of taught modules. Then, from April to August, students work full-time on their individual research dissertations.

Students may exit with an award of Postgraduate Diploma (P.Grad.Dip.) in Computer Science – Future Networked Systems (NFQ Level 9) upon successful completion of 60 ECTS of taught modules, not including the Research Dissertation.

Course Content
The following core modules are taken by all M.Sc. students on the course: Internet of Things; Next Generation Networks; Scalable Computing; Security & Privacy; Distributed Systems; Urban Computing; Machine Learning; Advanced Software Engineering; and Research and Innovation.

Additionally, students take a number of individually chosen elective modules from a pool of options.

Finally, all students complete a substantial Research Dissertation which comprises a third of the entire course.

Students may exit with a Postgraduate Diploma (P.Grad.Dip.) in Computer Science, upon successful completion of taught modules (not including the Research Dissertation).

Please note that the course content is updated on an annual basis and some minor changes occur from year to year.

Applicants must provide the following:

An upper second-class (2.1) Honours degree grade or higher from a reputable university, in Computing or related discipline.
All applicants whose first language is not English or who have not been educated through the English language will need to present evidence of competency.
Proven programming competence. All candidates will have to complete a programming test in C, C++ or Java before being offered a place on the course. Some modules may also require programming in Python and other languages.
A strong work ethic and the resolve to engage with a demanding but rewarding programme.

1 year full-time.

Next Intake September 2024

Closing Date 31st July 2024

Career Opportunities
We expect graduates to be in high demand for high-end research and development positions within leading multi-national companies and start-up companies alike. Previous graduates have gone on to work in Software Engineering, Financial Services, Web Technology, Mobile Communications and other computing related areas in companies including Facebook, Microsoft, Citi and Genesys. In some cases, our graduates have gone on to further postgraduate research, taking up funded PhD positions at TCD or other universities in Ireland abroad.