Social Care
Social care workers provide professional individual or group care to clients with personal and social needs, in a caring, compassionate, non-judgmental way. Client groups include children and adolescents in residential care; young people in detention schools; people with intellectual or physical disabilities; people who are homeless; people with alcohol/drug dependency; families in the community, older people, and asylum-seekers/refugees.
Social care work is based on interpersonal relationships. It requires empathy, strong communication skills, self-awareness and an ability to use critical reflection. Teamwork and interdisciplinary work are also important.
This course will familiarise you with the latest concepts and theoretical developments in the relevant academic disciplines, and help you to develop as a self-aware, reflective, altruistic, empathic social care professional. You’ll develop skills relevant to social care practice and benefit from supervised exposure to social care practice, using three practice placements. These will help you to make an informed choice as to which area of practice you are best suited.
Subjects studied include social care work with older people and people with disabilities; social policy and social justice; psychology and human development; professional practice; law in social care work; safeguarding children and vulnerable adults; working with communities; social policy-making, and social psychology.
Tourism & Digital Marketing
Tourism is one of the world’s largest industries worldwide and is forecasted to be one of the fastest-growing global sectors, with exciting career opportunities.
This course focuses broadly on business and management subjects and more specifically on digital tourism marketing, to reflect the changing needs of the industry in light of technological advances.
A suite of modules has been designed on the marketing and management of tourism enterprises such as visitor attractions, destination management companies, tour operators, travel agencies, hotels, conference centres and management bureaux.
You’ll acquire theoretical and practical knowledge of tourism and marketing practices, gaining an understanding of the operation of the tourism industry and the use of digital tools for tourism marketing.
Mathematical Sciences
Mathematical Sciences encompasses most areas of mathematics and statistics. In this course, you’ll acquire high-calibre analytical, problem-solving skills and the ability to apply a broad range of mathematical techniques and rigour to countless applications and industries.
You’ll gain scientific and analytical skills in mathematics as well as a capacity to solve real-life problems. The first two years will provide you with a sound foundation in mathematics, which will underpin subsequent work and will introduce you to topics in statistics and computer science that can be developed further in later stages through specialised modules.
A strength of the course is that the third and fourth years are designed in a modular fashion, which allows you to tailor your studies. You can choose topics from courses in pure and applied mathematics, statistics, operations research and financial mathematics.
Through the six-month placement in Year 3, you’ll gain experience of using your analytical, modelling, problem-solving, and computer skills in a working environment.
In your Year 4 project, you can engage in an in-depth study of a pertinent, interesting problem in mathematics.
Medical Device Innovation
Medical Devices encompasses all products, except medicines, used in healthcare for the diagnosis, prevention, monitoring or treatment of illness or disability. Examples include contact lenses, orthopaedic joint replacement, programmable pacemakers, stents, ventilators and laser surgical devices. The medical technology industry in Ireland is changing from being predominantly manufacturing based to becoming increasingly complex, value added and driven by R&D. It now involves the extensive collaboration of a broad range of partners, including research institutions, clinicians, manufacturing companies and government agencies.
Learning Outcomes: What will I Study?
The course is designed to provide students with a range of knowledge and skills for employment in a medical device environment. The medical device industry provides graduate opportunities in design, manufacturing, technical services, customer support and a range of other services that add value to the sector. The course was formulated with industry input in response to a number of recommendations highlighted in the March 2008 Forfás Report on the Future Skills Needs of the Irish Medical Devices Sector. The course specifically addresses the need to upskill scientists, engineers and technologists and the provision of professional development within this sector.
Music Education
This four year course will equip you with a high standard of performance in the instrument of your choice, as well as associated competences in related music skills, i.e. conducting, keyboard skills, counterpoint, composition, orchestration, analysis and history of music. A fundamental feature of the course is personal development in music, instilling the ability to arouse the interest and enthusiasm of pupils. You will be encouraged to engage in ensemble work at a level appropriate to your ability. Opportunities to perform are provided, offering realistic goals for all, including the exceptionally gifted. Supervised practice in all aspects of classroom teaching is provided in addition to instrumental/vocal practice.
Nutraceuticals in Health & Nutrition
If any applicant has a medically diagnosed food allergy (note; not an intolerance), this course is not recommended.
Nutraceuticals are concentrated compounds obtained from food sources that can provide health benefits, including prevention of disease and health promotion. Examples of nutraceuticals include substances such as Omega 3, antioxidants or probiotics.
In today’s competitive food industry, and with increased consumer awareness of the link between diet and health, nutraceuticals are a dynamic and growing market sector.
This course covers a range of scientific disciplines and new nutraceutical technologies. It aims to produce contemporary food scientists capable of exploiting this growing opportunity in health and wellness.
An additional feature is that it covers the emerging area of sports nutrition and nutrigenomics.
You’ll undertake a three-month work placement, and a full semester in Year 4 is dedicated to an independent research project that will allow you to develop your research skills and in-depth knowledge in an area of your choice.
On graduation, you’ll be qualified to enter postgraduate research courses, both in Ireland and abroad, in nutraceutical research and related areas at masters or PhD level. Demand for researchers in this area is currently high and is predicted to further increase in future years.
Optometry
Optometrists (Ophthalmic Opticians) are healthcare professionals who provide primary eye care services. They carry out eye examinations to diagnose vision defects, including myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism, presbyopia and prescribe spectacles.
The optometrist’s eye examination will detect eye diseases such as cataract, glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration, as well as ocular signs of systemic conditions such as multiple sclerosis, high blood pressure and diabetes. Patients are referred to doctors by optometrists if medical attention is required. Optometrists in Ireland do not treat eye disease, which is done by medical professionals.
The first year of this course focuses on science subjects necessary for optometric training. Clinical teaching begins in Year 1 with Vision Science, which will equip you with some of the core clinical skills necessary for a routine eye examination. The clinical training increases throughout the course.
In Years 3 and 4, you’ll learn how to apply your scientific knowledge in a modern, purpose-built clinic, the National Optometry Centre (NOC), using state-of-the-art facilities and equipment.
You’ll learn to: perform an eye examination to determine if spectacles are required; choose suitable spectacle frames and lenses; fit contact lenses, identify eye-related disease so that a patient may be managed and referred if necessary; carry out specialised clinics in Low Vision, Aged Vision, Paediatrics and Binocular Vision, and use specialised ophthalmic diagnostic and imaging instrumentation.
At the end of Year 4, you’ll spend five months (Jan-May) working in an optometric practice under supervision which will give you workplace experience and skills and enhance your employment prospects.
Pharmaceutical Healthcare
The Pharmaceutical Healthcare course provides students with an integrated curriculum of practice and theory focussing on the key concepts in pharmaceutical sciences and technology.
It develops students’ knowledge of the fundamental principles, as well as latest developments and applications, equipping them for employment in a variety of areas within biopharmaceutical and pharmaceutical manufacturing, as well as associated industries.
The course also gives students a broad understanding of the biopharmaceutical and pharmaceutical industries, to meet the current and anticipated technical and skills needs of these industries. You will primarily learn about how the fundamental sciences are applied to biopharmaceutical and pharmaceutical manufacturing. Throughout the course, there is a strong focus on the core competencies and skills that will prepare you for the work environment in the biopharmaceutical, pharmaceutical and allied industries, both during the course as part of your work experience and also after you graduate.
The course has two discipline streams in Year 4, which underpin core modules in the area of (bio) pharmaceutical manufacturing. These two streams will allow you to specialise into either small molecule pharmaceuticals or biopharmaceuticals. The course is structured over four years and covers a comprehensive range of disciplines including scientific, technological, manufacturing, developmental and regulatory areas related to the biopharmaceutical and pharmaceutical industries. The course includes the options of extended external placement or international placement, and this will allow you to develop independence, confidence and build upon your disciplinary expertise and knowledge you have gained.
Finding employment in an industrial/research environment post-graduation will be aided by developing your key personal and interpersonal employability skills throughout the course. The provision of challenging self-directed learning exercises, culminating in a final year research project, will enable you to become a graduate that is self-reliant, problem-solving, innovative and self- motivating.
Photography
The arrival of affordable digital cameras has stimulated widespread interest in photography, presenting the professional photographer with both new opportunities and challenges.
This course will prepare you for a career in professional photographic media practice, as well as the broader visual arts sector. It will equip you with key skills, while encouraging you to reflect on your actions and practices.
There are three main strands: Critical Studies (Visual Studies, History, Theory and Criticism); Photographic Practice, and Professional Studies (Study Skills, Law, and Business). The Critical Studies will develop your understanding of the context of media and visual arts production, while fostering intellectual enquiry into the nature of society and culture. The practice modules are underpinned by theoretical study of photographic technologies and images in the social and institutional context in which the photographer operates.
The wide variety of career opportunities include commercial and industrial photography (ranging from medical to fashion), photography as visual arts practice, multimedia, print and electronic media, photojournalism and editorial work. Others pursue careers in education and postgraduate research.
Physics Technology
Physicists design experiments to test or apply new ideas to better understand the physical world. Their work has led to key developments in areas such as optics, electronics, communications systems, information technology, computing, medical technologies, energy production and management, sustainable technologies and environmental technologies.
This course is designed to educate and train students to be professional scientists in the area of Physics Technology, and to provide them with scientific and analytical skills in physics as well as a practical problem-solving ability.
It is not necessary to have studied physics in order to do this degree, although you do need to have an interest in science and technology. All of the Physics in Year 1 and much of it in Year 2 is delivered using the exciting method of Problem-Based Learning. This learning style allows students to develop additional skills much sought after by industry: problem-solving, adaptability, teamwork, research skills, leadership and communication skills.
You’ll study a wide range of subjects, from the physics of motion, electricity & magnetism, nuclear physics, mechanics, relativity, heat & thermodynamics and quantum mechanics to technology for sustainability, astronomy, entrepreneurship for scientists, environmental & remote sensing, electronics & instrumentation, and particle physics & astrophysics. And you can choose to specialise in areas of particular interest.
You’ll also undertake an Invention, Innovation & Commercialisation Project.
Physics Technology is an accredited course of the Institute of Physics (IOP).
