The Master of Science in Cybersecurity is designed as a specialist postgraduate programme for IT graduates looking to advance their career in the area of cybersecurity. The programme will equip students with advanced knowledge, skill and competence, along with the research capacity, to support them securing leadership roles on graduation. The programme is designed to be a practical in nature with learners required to engage in authentic learning and assessment activities to evidence application of knowledge. In addition to the core technical content, learners will also be exposed to the legal and ethical aspects of cybersecurity.
The MSc in Cybersecurity course is designed for graduates of Honours degrees and Higher Diplomas in IT (or cognate disciplines) and IT professionals who are looking to specialise in their studies in order to advance their career as a cybersecurity professional. Strong programming skills is an essential requirement for admission to this programme. The programme is designed to equip students for roles such as information security analyst, secure application developer, cybersecurity tester, risk advisory on information security and forensics, cloud security analyst.
The Masters in Cybersecurity programme is available full-time on-campus and part-time via blended learning mode of delivery. Contact hours for the programme are a combination of traditional face-to-face classroom learning and virtual classroom also incorporating face to face and virtual lab sessions / workshops. Full time learners are required to attend 15 hours per week. Part time learners attend 8 hours per week, spread over 2 evenings and some weekend attendance would be required for campus based / virtual practical labs/workshops.
Taught modules on the Masters in Cybersecurity are followed by a Cybersecurity Capstone project allowing students to apply their knowledge to a specialised applied problem which will be industry-initiated and used as the context for planning, designing, building and testing potential solutions. Modules include Cryptography Theory and Practice, Security Frameworks and Compliance, Secure Programming and Scripting, Forensic Principles and Analysis, Data and Application Security, Research and Professional Ethics, Penetration Testing and Malware Analysis, Incident Analysis and Response. Multiple transversal skills are also embedded throughout the programme including time management, communication, critical thinking and analysis, research, presentation as well as management and leadership development, ethics, project management and evaluation, and professional judgement.
The programme leads to an award by QQI at Level 9 of the NFQ and consists of 60 credits of taught module work + 30 credits of an applied project. Learners who decide to leave the programme, after completing the taught elements only, may be entitled to receive the embedded exit award of a Post Graduate Diploma in Science in Cybersecurity.
