- Home
- About the College
- Governance
- College Committees & Steering Groups
- College Assembly
- College Council
- College Executive Management Committee
- College Academic Programmes and Curriculum Development Committee
- College Graduate Studies Committee
- College Research & Innovation Committee
- College Teaching Learning and Student Experience Committee
- College Student Recruitment and Outreach Committee
- College Sabbatical Research Leave Committee
- College of SEFS Adjunct Appointments Committee
- International Education Committee
- College Postgraduate Student Committee
- Athena SWAN Steering Group
- College Committees & Steering Groups
- Human Resources
- Annual UCC STEM Awards
- Scholarships and Prizes
- Women in STEM Panel Talks
- Inaugural Professorial Lectures
- Athena SWAN in SEFS
- Proposal Calls
- Contact Us
- Science in Society Public Lecture Series
- Governance
- News
- Staff
- Schools and Departments
- Current Students
- Undergraduate Courses
- Postgraduate Courses
- International Students
- Research and Innovation
- Employability and Careers
- Outreach and Public Engagement
- Science Week
- Transition Year Programmes
News 2025
UCC Celebrates Graduates of MSc in Dairy Process Technology
Maeve Cusack and Áine Murphy, graduates of the MSc in Dairy Process Technology, celebrated their conferring at University College Cork (UCC) on 25 March. This innovative employment based postgraduate programme is a collaboration between UCC and Kerry Group.
The graduates were supervised by Prof Seamus O’Mahony, Dr Tom O’Callaghan, and Prof Alan Kelly, School of Food and Nutritional Sciences, UCC, with industry mentorship from Ms. Ger Behan, Kerry Group.
Maeve Cusack, a native of Tower, County Cork, graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Food Science from UCC. Science and food are an integral part of Maeve’s family history. She participated in the BT Young Scientist competition twice while attending Colaiste Choilm, Ballincollig. Her sister studied Nutritional Sciences at UCC’s School of Food and Nutritional Sciences, and her father works as a Dairy Farm Manager.
Áine Murphy, a UCC BSc (Hons) Food Science graduate, comes from a farming background in Ballyfoyle, County Kilkenny. Áine was the only third-year Food Science student to complete an industry-based work placement in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, having traveled to New Zealand to work with dairy company Synlait.
University College Cork first partnered with Kerry Group in 2021 to develop this new MSc Degree in Dairy Process Technology. Kerry Group initially offered two employment-based studentships on the programme and has offered three more in the intervening years.
It is a two-year, part-time, employment-based postgraduate degree drawing from UCC Food Science graduates. The programme offers graduates a unique opportunity to complete a Masters in Dairy Process Technology through UCC while working across Kerry Group’s dairy processing sites in Listowel, Charleville, and Newmarket.
According to Professor Seamus O’Mahony: ‘’This is an excellent example of academia working with industry to address an identified skills need and support the development of the next generation of scientific leaders in the industry. The programme is one of a range of new initiatives in dairy and food science designed to create greater access to lifelong and life-wide learning opportunities for recent graduates and company employees in the dairy sector.’’