Computing - Galway

The M.Sc. in Computing enables new graduates and established computing professionals to develop advanced thinking and technical know-how in a range of inter-related technology-centric disciplines. The programme is designed provide you with cutting-edge theoretical and practical skills in emerging disciplines of computing. The knowledge and skill-set that you will receive from this programme will help supercharge your career as an IT professional and will also provide you with a solid foundation for pursuing a Level 10 award.



The programme contains a mix of taught and research modules and places a strong emphasis on honing practical skills. Lectures and practicals are delivered in a dedicated learning environment where students spend the majority of their time on programming and project work. Depending on the modules that you select, you can expect to spend much of each week working on practical computing problems in cloud-based environments using languages like Java, JavaScript, C and Python. Each of the course modules involves the use of modern and AI-enabled compute environments and programming libraries.



You will begin your research project in the first semester, when a weekly seminar and a Research Methods module will be used to help you develop a research topic to work on over the summer period. The research topic that you choose may provide an opportunity to collaborate with an ATU research group or with an industry partner.



Who Should Apply?

Level 8 computing graduates, with good software development skills, who are interested in 12-month full-time study in on-campus / blended mode. Level 8 computing graduates, who are working in computing roles in industry, who are interested in 2+ years of part-time study in blended mode.

The programme is divided into six 10-credit taught modules and 30-credits of research. Each semester (January – May and September – December) you will be able to choose three from the following set of taught modules:



Advanced Database Technology

Cloud Native Computing

Computer & Network Forensics

Cybersecurity and Secure Programming

Embedded Systems & Pervasive Sensing

Machine Learning

Software Quality & Testing

Statistical Computing

Text & Sequence Analytics



All taught modules involve the application of artificial intelligence to a specific discipline of computing and are highly practical. In addition, you must take the 5-credit Research Methods module in your first semester. The 25-credit Research Project is completed during the period June – August and will involve a software project, a write-up and a symposium. The Research Project is fully supervised.

A Level 8 major award in computing (software development) or computer engineering (with a significant level of software development).

For non-native English speakers a minimum IELTS score of 6.0 is required.

1 year full-time, on-campus.



Recommended Study Hours per week

Full-time students: 15-20 hours / week.

Start Date January 2026