Graduate Taught Programmes

This two-year programme fulfils the requirements for the second part of professional education in architecture (RIBA and RIAI Part II exempt). It equips students to deal with complex design problems in challenging contexts.

Through studio projects, academic writing and practical experiments, it develops professional capacities while placing equal emphasis on research and critical enquiry. It situates architecture within a broader field of disciplines and influences.

The programme is led by academics and practitioners at the forefront of the discipline. It encourages students to participate in and lead the development of a vital and critical culture of architecture.

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Urban environments and their buildings are at once both acutely responsible for the climate crisis, and present some of the most achievable solutions. Climate action is urgently required to mitigate their environmental impact and unearth creative solutions.

The MSc programme equips graduates and returning professionals with specialist skills to respond to the challenge of planning, designing, and actioning a sustainable built environment. The School of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Policy (APEP) brings together four key disciplines to provide a unique graduate learning experience.

Core modules are specifically designed to enhance knowledge of Sustainable Development Goals, climate science and policy as well as skills for sustainable building and urban design. Options will allow students choose from a wide range of architecture, planning and policy based modules, as well as energy and sustainability modules from around the University. Linking to prestigious industry-collaborative research projects will allow students action their research and knowledge to advance careers in sustainable practice, consultancy, policy and academia.

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Architecture is a regulated profession. The Professional Diploma (Architecture) is the final stage of the training of architectural graduates, and is required for entry to the statutory (opens in a new window)Register for Architects in Ireland, and in order to use the title ‘architect’. It is also required for (opens in a new window)recognition of Irish architects’ qualifications in EU member states and in (opens in a new window)the United Kingdom.

The Diploma is a part-time 30 ECTs programme with five modules. The three lecture-based modules (Architectural Practice, Construction Legislation, Procurement & Contracts) will be offered in Spring, followed by the Case Study and Practical Experience (oral exam) modules, which must be taken within two years (four trimesters).

UCD is fully committed to continued delivery of the programme, and is opening applications for January 2025. Forty places will be available and will be allocated by random selection, details are available in the links below.

• 2024- 25 Professional Diploma (Architecture) INFORMATION 
• 2024- 25 Professional Diploma (Architecture) APPLICATIONS

Register your interest on this (opens in a new window)EXPRESSION OF INTEREST FORM.

Enquiries: Please refer all queries to (opens in a new window)professionalpractice@ucd.ie.

Global climate change is altering everything, everywhere in the world. We are faced with necessary tasks relating to the design and build of our surrounding environments. The landscape and its functions, its ecosystem services and its appearance will inevitably change.

As the energy transition accelerates, the landscape is developing into a global powerhouse. Simultaneously, the landscape, with its soils, peatlands, wetlands, forests and oceans, must be assisted in its capacity as a major global carbon sink.

The landscape will become a global infrastructure element with decentralised renewable energy production; the corresponding power lines, substations, battery parks, biomass production, pipelines, transport routes, etc. All of this must be carefully thought out and designed. This is the only way to ensure attractive, sustainable future growth.

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The stability of the Earth as a system is currently at risk as five of the nine planetary boundaries - describing the environmental limits within which humanity as a species may continue to thrive - have now been exceeded. The practice of sustainability is crucial to our management of life under water, life on land, the environment, and for societal health and wellbeing now and in the future.

Utilising the digital resources of the SDG Academy and the sustainability expertise of UCD academic staff, the Professional Diploma in Foundations of Sustainable Development is taught through the lens of the SDGS and has the unique ability to address the large range of issues covered by the 2030 agenda.

Ultimately, it will equip students to solve some of the most pressing issues of our times. Students who complete the programme will emerge with a holistic understanding of the core tenets of sustainable development across the four pillars of the Sustainable Development Goals —economic, social, environmental, and governance.

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Urban design lies at the interface of architecture and urban planning, with both disciplines contributing complementary but contrasting approaches to urban design theory and practice. This Master's programme is focused on the role of urban design in the context of urban planning, and is delivered with an emphasis on the distinct methodologies, professional perspectives and pedagogies of that discipline.

It provides specialist knowledge and skills in: urban design theory; urban conservation; risk, resilience and sustainability; as well as social science research methods applied to the built environment. The programme will enable graduates to work as part of a multidisciplinary team to create better places through urban design. Students will also have the opportunity to draw upon the School’s specialist research and teaching in environmental policy, to place urban design centre-stage in tackling wider environmental risks.

While the programme will be of interest primarily to students from a planning background, it will also appeal to graduates from a variety of other disciplinary backgrounds wishing to specialise in urban design and planning, including those with qualifications in geography, anthropology, sociology, environmental studies, engineering, property economics, surveying, politics, social science, and law.

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The Master of Regional and Urban Planning (MRUP) is a one-year professional planning degree, which will provide you with the first steps to becoming a professional chartered planner. The MRUP offers you the opportunity to develop the knowledge, skills and values fundamental to a career in planning and skills and knowledge which are transferrable to other careers. Applications are welcome from graduates from any discipline, though undergraduate disciplines with a thematic link to Planning are preferred. The programme is also suitable for those with a professional background in a field related to Planning who might wish to develop and broaden their skillset.

If you have already completed a three-year undergraduate degree in spatial planning, you should refer to our one-year planning programmes, the MRUP (Accelerated) programme, the MSc in Urban Design and Planning and the MSc in Environmental Policy.

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Cities play a pivotal role in achieving climate neutrality by 2050, the goal of the European Green Deal. They take up only 4% of the EU’s land area, but they are home to 75% of EU citizens. Furthermore, cities consume over 65% of the world’s energy and account for more than 70% of global CO2 emissions.

Since climate mitigation is heavily dependent on urban action, we need to support cities in accelerating their green and digital transformation. In particular, European cities can substantially contribute to the Green Deal target of reducing emissions by 55% by 2030 and, in more practical terms, offer cleaner air, safer transport and less congestion and noise to their citizens.

Cities, though, are currently struggling to develop coherent plans on how to achieve these ambitious but necessary targets because of the lack of relevant inter- and trans-disciplinary skills to tackle wicked long-term sustainability challenges. The MSc in Smart and Climate-Neutral Cities aims to provide this inter- and trans-disciplinary knowledge to a new generation of skilled workforce to meet the goals of the smart cities and climate adaptation missions by contributing to a decrease of harmful industrial emissions while favouring renewable energy sources.

This programme offers students the opportunity to work on an established research project with experienced researchers in the fields of smart cities, climate-neutral cities, spatial data analysis or related areas, including urban planning, climate action, participatory planning, citizen science, environmental studies, climate change impact, circular cities, and sustainable mobility.

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Societies and governments across the globe are faced with increasingly complex environmental challenges, from climate change to local environmental quality in our cities and regions. Within this context, there is a growing demand for graduates with the capacity to develop environmental policy choices, to analyse them critically and to provide guidance in policy implementation.

The MSc in Environmental Policy aims to provide students with the professional knowledge, skills and tools to equip them for a career in the environmental field while contributing to a more sustainable and resilient future. The MSc provides both introductory and specialised modules in Environmental Policy, and as such, we welcome applicants from a diverse range of academic backgrounds, including social sciences and arts, environmental sciences, law and business studies, and engineering.

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