A round-up of popular courses in universities around the country

UCC’s top five courses

MA in Global Cultures and Languages

MSc in Molecular Cell Biology with Bio-innovation

MSc in Radiation Therapy

MSc in Food Business and Innovation

Law – LLM (Environmental and Natural Resources Law)

Spotlight on Environmental and Natural Resources Law

The Environmental and Natural Resources Law (LLM) is a new programme which takes advantage of a concentration of legal expertise in the field at the university’s School of Law, which ranks in the top 100 law schools globally. The school’s academic staff currently hold advisory roles with a wide range of Irish and international agencies and organisations, including the European Environment Agency; the Environmental Protection Agency; the International Union for the Conservation of Nature; an Bord Pleanála; the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development; and the Aquaculture Licences Appeals Board.

The LLM offers a wide variety of legal topics ranging across traditional areas of environmental law, policy and regulation, as well as planning and land-use law, heritage protection, international environmental law, marine environmental law, natural resources law and human rights law. It aims to prepare graduates for a variety of careers in the broader environmental regulatory space, including in the legal professions, governmental and regulatory agencies, environmental NGOs, compliance roles in industry, academia and environmental consultancy.

It seeks to integrate theoretical and practical aspects of the application of environmental and natural resources law, and to connect module content with legal and regulatory frameworks operating locally, nationally, regionally and globally. To the greatest degree possible, the programme is based on flexible workload arrangements, to suit recent law graduates and environmental professionals alike.

EU fees: €7,130-€3,630 (year one part-time); €3,630 (year two part-time)

For more information see: ucc.ie/en/ckl48/

DCU’s top five courses

Professional Master of Education

MSc in Computing

MSc in Psychology

MSc in Public Relations and Strategic Communication

MSc in Management

Spotlight on MSc in Elite Sport Performance (MESP)

This new, two-year, part-time, distance-learning MSc provides students with an opportunity to complete a programme of study focused on the theories and practice of sports performance and develop an advanced understanding of research methodologies and reflective and critical skills.

It’s aimed at both early-career professionals working in sport, and those with aspirations to work in this environment, who are motivated to extend their knowledge and understanding of elite sport performance and deepen discipline-specific expertise through postgraduate study.

The programme’s part-time and flexible nature enables students to consider how their learning and knowledge impacts professional practice in elite sport performance environments, and ensure the acquired knowledge and understanding gained through the master’s supports their development in their specific working context.

The course provides an opportunity for postgraduate study for appropriately qualified early-career sport professionals across relevant sport performance disciplines (eg, sport science and coaching) and to acquire advanced subject knowledge in this field. It offers candidates the opportunity to engage in interdisciplinary study that allows them to investigate issues in elite sport performance.

Fees: €4,500 per annum

For more information see: dcu.ie/scienceandhealth/msc-elite-sport-performance

Maynooth University’s top five courses

MSc Data Science and Analytics