Postgraduate students

Inspirational research is at the forefront of all of our activities at NUI Galway. Today, we are recognised as a global centre of excellence in a number of key research areas including:

• Biomedical Science and Engineering
• Environmental and Marine Sciences
• Applied Social Sciences and Public Policy
• Humanities in Context
• Informatics, Physics and Computational Sciences

NUI Galway is also Ireland’s most successful university for commercialisation of research and we place a high priority on research that has an impact on society, be it stem cell and gene therapy research, human rights law, environmental change or web science.

Postgraduate Programmes

We offer a wide range of postgraduate programmes across our five colleges and research centres

Masters Programmes

There are two types of Masters programmes offered at Irish universities; Taught Masters and Research Masters. Taught Masters and Research Masters are considered of equal academic standard but differ in their structure and emphasis.

A Taught Masters programme is usually one year in duration and comprises various modules (classes) on a credit based system, as well as a minor research project. Taught Masters programmes may be open to applicants from different undergraduate backgrounds.

A Research Masters is usually two years in duration and involves working on a comprehensive research project and the submission of a thesis. Entry to a Research Masters is usually limited to applicants with a specific undergraduate concentration.

Doctoral Programmes (PhD)

A Doctoral (PhD) is a research-based degree normally of four years duration. Admission usually requires a Bachelor degree or a Masters degree with high marks. In certain cases, a student undertaking a Research Masters programme may be transferred to a Doctoral programme.

How to Apply

All postgraduate applications are made online via the Postgraduate Applications Centre (PAC). Please refer to the How to Apply section or contact the International Affairs Office for more information

Note: Research Masters and PhD Applications. Admission to a research Masters or PhD programme is at the discretion of the academic supervisor and the relevant School or College of the University. Students interested in postgraduate research programmes should begin the application process by contacting a member of staff in the relevant discipline to find out current research opportunities.

General Entry Requirements

Entry requirements for postgraduate programmes vary, however an honours level Bachelor degree with good grades is normally the minimum requirement to be considered for admission. Please refer to the Postgraduate website or refer to the Your Country section of the website for more information.

Applicants whose first language is not English must also meet the University’s English language requirements.