Postgraduate Application Processes

Student Applications:

Information on the Postgraduate Taught and Research programmes can be found at the following links:

Taught Postgraduate Programmes

Postgraduate Research Programmes

New applications to taught postgraduate programmes are reviewed by the programme team.

New applications for research postgraduate programmes applications are reviewed and approved by School of Medicine Graduate Studies Committee and the School of Medicine Leadership committee.

An overview of the review process for Research applications from application through to final approval is available here: SoM CRM PG flowchart. Please note when making an application to a Research programme it can take up to three months from application to final approval. 

Postgraduate Research Programmes

The UCC Graduate Studies Office provide full information on Postgrad Research Options, however here we list some helpful information, documents and links.

All applications to a Postgraduate Research programme must consider the timelines involved in the application process. A new application with all paperwork completed correctly should allow up to 3 months for the process to be completed. 

Moving to Cork

The CoMH Postgraduate Student Committee have put together a booklet with useful information for students moving to Cork Graduate Students Coming to Cork

Entry Criteria:

The qualification comparison list helps to determine if an existing qualification is sufficient to apply for a place on a desired programme.

Language Requirement:

All applicants whose first language is not English must provide evidence of English language proficiency. All programmes within the School of Medicine require an IELTS score of 6.5, achieving a minimum of 6.0 in each individual section

To view the minimum English language requirements currently accepted at University College Cork please click here. 

Supervision of Postgraduate Research students:

Each research student (Masters or Doctoral) requires supervision by a minimum of two UCC experienced members of academic or research staff, one of whom is the designated "Lead Supervisor". The Supervision team are responsible for the overall direction of the student's research programme, manage adminstrative issues relating to the student's registration and progress, and support the student in preparation for examination and publications of their thesis. 

Each supervisory team must include:

1. At least two members of UCC academic or research staff - one who will be deisgnated the "Lead Supervisor"

2. At least 1 person (not the Advisor or external Co-supervisor) must hold a doctoral degree if the Student being supervised is registered on a doctoral programme. 

3. At least 1 person (not the Advisor or external Co-supervisor) must have successfully supervised a Student to completion in the relevant programme, i.e. a doctoral student cannot be supervised by a team where no member of the team has yet to supervise successfully a doctoral student to graduation. A research Masters student cannot be supervised by a team where no member of the team has yet to supervise successfully at least 1 Research Masters or Doctoral Student to completion. 

Further information is available here: PolicyontheSupervisionofResearchStudents.pdf (ucc.ie)

PhD Coursework:

From October 2013 all incoming PhD/PhD track students will be registering for a structured PhD. (Please see the link for the UCC Structured PhD - Compulsory Requirements ) 

As part of this a Training Needs Analysis must be completed with the supervisory team, leading to development of a Research Student Learning Plan detailing the agreed development goals for each student, based around the IUA PhD Skills Statement. 

Students are expected to complete modules relevant to their background and area of research (which may include academic modules) and activities, to a minimum value of 15 credits. The list of postgraduate training modules are available here.

Progress Reviews:

All registered research students must engage with a formal research progress review, at least annually. Please note with the launch of UCC Graduate Education Manager (GEM) all progress reviews are to be processed via this platform. 

Further information is available here: UCC Policy on Progress Reviews for Research Students | University College Cork 

Please note that a completed and signed Progress Review must accompany all requests for an extension.

Research Registration Change Request

During the course of completing a postgraduate research programme it may be necessary for a student to request a change to their registration. This can take the form of a change of supervisors, an extension to the timeline, a request for a Leave of Absence, etc. - these changes require the completion of a Change request via UCC Graduate Education Manager (GEM). 

Further information is available at UCC Research Student Administration Project

Leave of Absence

During the duration of a Research students registration it may be necessary to take a Leave of Absence from their studies/research for a period of time. Prior to applying for  a leave of absence, the student should engage with their supervision team and the UCC Policy on Leave of Absence for Postgraduate Research Students | University College Cork. 

Recommencment 

It is preferable for students to progress their research without interruption. However, in some circumstances where a student has failed to register for a period longer than 12 months from the end of their last registration or approved leave of absence it is possible for a research student to apply to re-commence their programme.   Students may apply to re-commence their programme if they have failed to re-register for more than 12 months and less than 60 months. This deadline also applies to students that have completed an approved leave of absence but fail to re-register. These timelines apply to both full-time and part-time students.

The Recommencement policy is available here UCC Policy on Re-commencement of Programme for Postgraduate Research Students | University College Cork