Cybersecurity & Software Development - Online

Course Overview

The School of Computer Science, University of Galway, offers a unique Level 9 Postgraduate Diploma in Cybersecurity and Software Development. This programme is designed to prepare students for the demands of the digital age by reskilling and upskilling them in Cybersecurity while simultaneously training them for software development. Most computing courses aim to deliver high-quality software focused on functionality. In accordance with demand, this course is exclusively designed to augment learners' skills by teaching them the essentials and advances of Cybersecurity for modern software development.



This Level 9, two-year, part-time programme has been developed in tandem with the industry on the advice of the regional skills fora and informed by discussions within the ITAG Cyber Forum. It has been designed in consultation with start-up enterprises, SMEs, and large multinationals to give you the expertise and knowledge required to progress your career.



Course Description

The Postgraduate Diploma in Cybersecurity and Software Development has been designed to meet the challenges of re-skilling and up-skilling in a modern economy in response to industry demand for graduates with cloud computing and software development skills. This course provides flexible delivery options to meet this need. It has been designed in consultation with start-up enterprises, SMEs, and large multinationals to give you the expertise and knowledge required to progress in your career.



Course Content

This is a two-year part-time Springboard+ online programme with a weighting of 60 ECTS in total.

This course provides:

• A solid foundation in key computing knowledge at the industry level;

• A specialisation in Cybersecurity making participants aware of cyber threats, vulnerabilities and attacks, threat models, secure software development (DevSecOps), Crypto API, including programming languages such as Java, Java Enterprise, JavaScript (NodeJS) and Python;

• An 8-month industry placement or capstone group project.



Considering the growing skills shortage of software developers with a knowledge of Cybersecurity, graduates of this programme will be able to bridge the gap between software development and security teams.



Industry Placement Opportunity:

In semester 2 of year 2, students will have the opportunity to secure an 8-month industry internship/placement or will undertake a capstone group project with academic supervisors. The placement process (CV preparation, interview skills, events, internship opportunities, interviews) is fully supported by dedicated staff within the University Career Development Centre (CDC). Students can also source their own placement in consultation with the CDC. Where students wish to remain with their current employer, we work with them to define suitable project work to underpin their coursework.



We welcome applicants from across Ireland to apply for this 2-year, part-time, online course. Course delivery is asynchronous, meaning applicants can maintain their existing full-time or part-time employment while taking the course.



As a conversion course, it is open to applicants from non-computing backgrounds to facilitate individuals wishing to change careers, reskill or potentially upskill to improve their employment prospects. The minimum requirement is that students have an L8 undergraduate degree; L7 entrants can also apply but must demonstrate at least two years of industry experience within the computing sector to be considered.



While not mandatory, applicants who have had some exposure to coding and feel they have a knack for it are encouraged to apply.

Year 1:

Semester 1: 15 ECTS

• Cybersecurity Essentials

• Algorithms and Data Structures

• OO Programming 1



Semester 2: 15 ECTS

• Enterprise Java Programming

• Secure Web Programming



Year 2:

Semester 3: 15 ECTS

• Applied Cybersecurity

• Database Systems

• Architecture, Operating Systems & Networks



Semester 2: 15 ECTS

In semester 2 of year 2, students will have the opportunity to secure an 8-month industry internship/placement or will undertake a capstone group project with academic supervisors. The placement process (CV preparation, interview skills, events, internship opportunities, interviews) is fully supported by dedicated staff within the University Career Development Centre (CDC). Students can also source their own placement in consultation with the CDC. Where students wish to remain with their current employer, they will undertake the group project.

This programme is open to applicants from all backgrounds who hold a QQI Level 8 qualification or equivalent. Persons who hold formal qualifications at Level 7 may also apply, subject to provision of satisfactory evidence of having attained Level 8 competencies through prior experiential learning (minimum of two years working in an IT role).



Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)

Persons who hold formal qualifications at Level 7 may also apply, subject to provision of satisfactory evidence of having attained Level 8 competencies through prior experiential learning (minimum of two years working in an IT role).

Please apply through the Springboard website.



Significant demand is expected and early application is advisable as we will process applications on a rolling basis.

2 years, part-time

Next start date: September 2025

Career Opportunities

The career prospects for our graduates are extremely strong and demand is dramatically outstripping supply. Our programmes within the School of Computing Science in University of Galway are highly respected among many of Irelands leading software companies. In the past our graduates have often received numerous job offers before they even completed the programme.



A selection of roles that graduates will be eligible to apply for:

• Application security engineer

• Network security/Cybersecurity engineers

• Cybersecurity specialists

• Information security, cybersecurity, or vulnerability analysts

• Penetration Tester

• DevSecOps Engineer

• Cybersecurity Architect

• Software Developer/Engineer (Java, C#, Frontend JS)

• Backend Developer

• Database Analyst

• Software Analyst

• IT Manager

• Automated Test Engineer



The career pathways are taken from an analysis of past graduates and the new Cybersecurity roles are sampled from those available from our partner companies.