Public Policy

Public policy making has become more challenging in recent years in the context of the increasing complexity of clients’ needs, growing expectations regarding appropriate service quality and diminishing public spending in many countries. The Master of Public Policy is specifically designed to provide you with the knowledge and skills to meet these challenges.



We examine the socio-economic changes and political issues which influence policy making, the challenges associated with effective regulation and administration of public services and ensuring that policy decisions are evidence based. If you are interested in public policy research you can take a number of specialist modules on this issue. We also provide a number of optional streams which will enable you to examine different policy fields in depth.



The Master of Public Policy is a 90-credit programme. The duration is one year full time or two years part time. A 60-credit version of the programme is available as a Graduate Diploma without thesis.



Student Internships

The internship opportunity is available to students on the Master of Public Policy programme in lieu of writing a research thesis during the summer months. The module is designed to provide students with an opportunity to gain in-work experience relevant to their academic studies; to apply their academic knowledge and insights; and to begin to build their career profile.



The module runs in Trimester 3 (Summer) but has meetings in earlier trimesters.



Contact the module co-ordinator, Dr Orla Kelly, for more information: orla.kelly1@ucd.ie

Stage 1 Core Modules

SPOL41020 Data & Methods for Policy Analysis Autumn 10

SPOL41060 Public Administration & Policy Autumn 10

SPOL40450 Evidence-Based Policy Making Spring 10



Stage 1 Options - 3)1 of:

Students who would like to register for the Internship module must consult with the Programme Director in advance.

SPOL41040 MPP Thesis Summer 30

SPOL41050 MPP Internship Summer 30



Stage 1 Options - A) Min 0 of:

Only for students in the Economics Policy Stream. Admission to ECON modules requires prior training in Economics. Students wishing to take an ECON module must consult with the Module Coordinator and MPP Programme Director first. The total credit amount of option modules must be 30. As spaces are limited, any student wishing to take HRM40770 MUST contact Dominic Shellard in the School Office for manual registration. Places are allocated on a first come, first served basis.



ECON41840 Microeconomics Autumn 5

ECON42600 Development Economics Autumn 5

ECON42660 Behavioural Economics Autumn 10

ENVP40100 Environmental & Behavioural Economics Autumn 10

EQUL40390 Critical Political Economy Autumn 10

ECON42190 Health and Welfare Economics Spring 5

ECON42360 Energy Economics and Policy Spring 5

ECON42650 Experiments in Economics Spring 10

HRM40770 International HRM Spring 10

POL40370 International Political Economy Spring 10



Stage 1 Options - B) Min 0 of:

Only for students in the Environmental Policy Stream. The total credit amount of option modules must be 30.

ENVP40100 Environmental & Behavioural Economics Autumn 10

ENVP40180 European Environmental Policy Autumn 10

GEOG40860 Practical Environmental Assessment Autumn 10

LAW40120 Foundations of Environmental Law Autumn 10

POL40140 Theories of Global Justice Autumn 10

ENVP40040 Sustainability Lab Spring 10

LAW41090 Climate Change Law and Policy Spring 10

SOC41120 Human Development Challenges in the Global South Spring 10

SPOL41120 Sustainable Futures and Public Policy Spring 10



Stage 1 Options - C) Min 0 of:

Only for students in the European Union Policy Stream. The total credit amount of option modules must be 30. As spaces are limited, any student wishing to take HRM40770 MUST contact Dominic Shellard in the School Office for manual registration. Places are allocated on a first come, first served basis.

ENVP40180 European Environmental Policy Autumn 10

LAW40120 Foundations of Environmental Law Autumn 10

LAW40780 Law of the ECHR Autumn 10

LAW41040 Law and Governance of the EU Autumn 10

POL40970 Politics of European Governance Autumn 10

GEOG40450 Critical Geopolitics and Diplomacy Spring 10

HRM40770 International HRM Spring 10

LAW40360 Advanced Issues in European Competition Law Spring 10

POL40540 Comparative European Politics Spring 10



Stage 1 Options - D) Min 0 of:

Only for students in the Regulatory Governance Stream. The total credit amount of option modules must be 30.

LAW40120 Foundations of Environmental Law Autumn 10

LAW40760 NGOs: Law, Governance and Social Change Autumn 10

LAW41090 Climate Change Law and Policy Spring 10

LAW41150 Online Regulation Spring 10



Stage 1 Options - E) Min 0 of:

Only for students in the Research Stream. The total credit amount of option modules must be 30.

IS40840 Data & Society Autumn 10

POL42540 Applied Data Wrangling and Visualisation Autumn 5

SOC40640 Social Simulation: Methods and Models Autumn 10

POL41640 Qualitative Research Methods for Political Science Spring 10

POL42050 Quantitative Text Analysis Spring 10

SOC40330 Workshop in Qualitative Research Spring 10

STAT40150 Multivariate Analysis Spring 5



Stage 1 Options - F) Min 0 of:

Only for students in the Community, Drugs, Health Stream. The total credit amount of option modules must be 30.



EQUL40390 Critical Political Economy Autumn 10

SOC41160 Global Solutions and Applied Social Change Autumn 10

SPOL40470 Comparing Healthcare Systems Autumn 10

SPOL41130 Drugs & Drug Policy Autumn 5

PHPS40040 Public Health Practice and Policy Spring 5

PHPS40300 Health Promotion Spring 5

SPOL40440 Housing and Social Cohesion Spring 10



Stage 1 Options - G) Min 0 of:

Only for students in the Urban Policy Stream. The total credit amount of option modules must be 30.

GEOG40860 Practical Environmental Assessment Autumn 10

GEOG40970 Critical Geographies: Spatialising Power and Inequalities Autumn 10

GEOG41050 Globalization, Empire and Race: Economic Geography Autumn 10

PLAN4000W Gov the City: Admin & Transp Spring 5

PLAN40390 Sustainable Cities Spring 10

SPOL40440 Housing and Social Cohesion Spring 10



Stage 1 Options - I) Min 0 of:

Only for students in the Citizenship Stream. The total credit amount of option modules must be 30.

GEOG40970 Critical Geographies: Spatialising Power and Inequalities Autumn 10

LAW40640 Advances in Criminological Theory Autumn 10

LAW40760 NGOs: Law, Governance and Social Change Autumn 10

LAW42280 International Refugee Law Autumn 10

POL40140 Theories of Global Justice Autumn 10

POL41020 Politics of Human Rights Autumn 10

GS40030 Gender, Inequality and Public Policy Spring 10

LAW40620 The Prison: Contemporary Challenges Spring 10

POL41030 Theory of Human Rights Spring 10

SPOL40440 Housing and Social Cohesion Spring 10



Stage 1 Options - J) Min 0 of:

These modules are available as option modules for all students regardless of study track and would replace track options. Maximum number of option module credits is 30

POL40950 Introduction to Statistics Autumn 10

SPOL41200 Evaluation for Public Policy Autumn 10

SPOL41120 Sustainable Futures and Public Policy Spring 10

Each application is considered on its individual merits. The applicants should have earned a honours bachelors degree (NFQ Level 8) from a recognised university in a relevant social science subject such as Political Science, International Relations, Social Policy, Sociology, Geography, Economics, Global Studies, Public Policy, Public Administration, EU Studies, Law/International Law, Accounting & Finance, Business etc. with at least Upper Second Class Honours, or its equivalent (an overall GPA of 3.0 (B) or higher in the American system). Relevant professional experience will also be taken into account.



Note that meeting the requirements do not guarantee admission. Applicants in their final year of undergraduate study may be admitted conditional on satisfactory completion of their undergraduate degree.



N.B. Check the admission requirements for the Economics Policy Stream.



Students meeting the programme’s academic entry requirements but not the English language requirements, may enter the programme upon successful completion of UCD’s Pre-Sessional or International Pre-Master’s Pathway programmes. Please see the following link for further information http://www.ucd.ie/alc/programmes/pathways/



These are the minimum entry requirements – additional criteria may be requested for some programmes



You may be eligible for Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL), as UCD recognises formal, informal, and/or experiential learning. RPL may be awarded to gain Admission and/or credit exemptions on a programme. Please visit the UCD Registry RPL web page for further information. Any exceptions are also listed on this webpage. https://www.ucd.ie/registry/prospectivestudents/admissions/rpl/

Apply online.



Who Should Apply?

Full Time option suitable for:

Domestic(EEA) applicants: Yes

International (Non EU) applicants: Yes



Part Time option suitable for:

Domestic(EEA) applicants: Yes

International (Non EEA) applicants: No

1/2 years, FT/PT.

W279 Master of Public Policy Master of Public Policy Full-Time Commencing September 2026 Graduate Taught W289 Master of Public Policy Master of Public Policy Part-Time Commencing September 2026 Graduate Taught

Career & Graduate Study Opportunities

MPP graduates work in the public sector, across a variety of businesses, and in voluntary sector bodies. The positions they have gone on to, in Ireland and internationally, include policy analysts, policy advisors, communications and public affairs managers, policy officers, among many others.

A number of MPP graduates have joined the Irish public service, some through the Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service (IGEES) stream. Among the organisations in which MPP graduates have gone on to work with are the Health Services Executive (HSE), the Child and Family Agency (Tusla), Apple Ireland, Morgan McKinley, the Peter McVerry Trust, The Wheel.