Education

Online Learning

Study in your own time

We have designed the course so that you can continue in full time employment and fit your study around work and family commitments. You can opt to take the MSc programmes full time over one year or part time over two years. This makes it possible to work, study and graduate with an MSc in less than two years.

International network

Our distance-learning format widens participation to people from many countries. On the programme you will join a diverse group of like-minded people from across the world. You meet, study and share experiences with international colleagues and develop contacts and connections that will be useful in your international work and career. Cybercrime and data security threats often have an international dimension: having professional contacts in other countries will help you with your own investigations.

High quality tuition

You graduate with internationally recognized qualifications from one of the world’s leading universities. The high quality of UCD CCI’s courses is assured as:

We have been working on the development and delivery of forensic computing and cybercrime investigation training since 1997 and have strong links with law enforcement worldwide.
We employ highly experienced specialist law enforcement experts as lecturers, combining their practical experience with our academic course development expertise.

The delivery method varies slightly between the two programmes we offer.

Forensic Computing and Cybercrime Investigation (FCCI) Programme

(please note that this programme is open to members of law enforcement only)

Lectures are pre-recorded and provided online via a virtual online learning environment, where they can be downloaded and viewed locally. For most modules, lectures can be accessed throughout the semester from day 1; however students must complete related assignments by certain dates. Handouts, articles and links to online forums and resources support the lectures.

Whilst study is online, all students are required to come to Dublin once a year to complete examinations & workshops (our FCCI exam centre in the Netherlands provides this facility for participants there). Students on the programme are also invited to attend the graduation ceremony and an optional welcome session in Dublin at the start of the course.

MSc in Digital Investigation and Forensic Computing

Lectures are delivered in UCD and are simultaneously made available online with annual examination sessions taking place in Dublin. Lectures are conducted over two evenings a week during term. A part-time student doing the course over two years will attend approximately 4 hours of lectures on Tuesday evenings in Year 1, switching to Wednesday evenings in year 2.

As some students choose to follow the course online, lectures are simultaneously broadcast live via the classroom website and, following the lecture, the live recording is also made available to all students.

During the typical two years of study, students are required to come to Dublin once a year for approximately 5-10 days to complete examinations & workshops. Students are also invited to attend the graduation ceremony and an optional welcome session at the start of their course in September.

In addition to the lectures, students are expected to perform self-study assignments during the year using their personal computers and UCD’s online computer lab. Hands-on practical assignments, which require laboratory equipment, are performed at the end of the year in the form of intensive full-day workshops as part of the examination period. Students can book time in UCD's digital forensic lab and use the equipment for self-study during the year.