Who is the MSc NanoBio Science for?

The recruits to the course will come from a range of disciplines, including Physics, Theoretical Physics, Chemical Engineering, Mathematics, Biological Sciences and Medicine. The course links closely with universities and leading PhD schools abroad.

The part time programme is aimed primarily at recent graduates from BSc programmes currently working or seeking employment in the area of NanoBio Science.

What will I learn?

You will gain interdisciplinary skills in NanoBio Science. You will learn experimental, computational, and theoretical techniques to produce, control, analyze and image biostructures at the nanoscale.

How will I benefit?

You will work in a research-intensive environment with strong academic and industry links in Ireland and abroad. You will learn commercialisation and innovation skills in collaboration with NovaUCD that will position you strongly for a career in biomedical technologies, pharmaceutical industry and drug development, sustainable energy, academic and/or industrial research.

If already working in the area of NanoBio Science, your skills will be updated with the latest technologies and insight for improved career options.

What is the programme about?

You will learn about nanomaterials, statistical mechanics, computational methods, nanofluidics, nanooptics and biophotonics, scanning probe microscopy, and nanoelectronics to solve problems and create technologies for the NanoBio Sciences.

Download the UCD NanoBio Science Brochure 

Graduate JiaJun Li- MSc NanoBio Science “I chose to study NanoBio because of its huge potential. The subjects in this course cover areas from physics to biology. It is not only a ‘taught’ MSc, but the cutting-edge experiments and research will benefit you in your future career. The international aspect definitely brings new ideas and lets you know the people in your area of study. Overall, I think this is a very good choice whether aiming for a career in research or in applied science.”  JiaJun is now pursuing a PhD in the area of biomedical optics.

"NanoBio is a new field which has a very bright future in Saudi Arabia. I chose UCD for a number of reasons, the first is the interdisciplinary nature of the programme, combining not only physics but biology as well. It also provides a good mix of lab and classroom learning. The lab work involves discovering the nano world using incredible and advanced microscopes which I really like. UCD has an excellent reputation and I would hope that this will increase my job opportunities back home. In addition, the staff at UCD especially Brian Vohnsen the course coordinator has given me and my Saudi friends great encouragement and support"  Afaf Al Shammari

• Academic staff at the UCD School of Physics have had a measurable impact on research in their field, achieving a score of 3.2 in the Normalized Citation Impact,as used by the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings.  It shows that the research performed by staff at the UCD School of Physics is of significant interest among their global peers, as measured by citations to this work by those peers. 
• 50% of the time is devoted to classroom or lab-based activities. The student spends the remaining time carrying out a substantial research project, chosen in consultation with academic staff.
• The international standing of UCD has increased rapidly in recent years and the university is currently ranked within the top 1% of institutions world-wide by the Times Higher Education rankings.
• UCD is Ireland’s leader in postgraduate education with almost 7,000 postgraduate students, representing approximately 28% of the UCD student population, and almost 2,000 PhD students. We have a strong Physics graduate programme at MSc and PhD levels. More than 40% of our graduate students are from overseas.

Other Programmes that may be of interest

MSc in Physics by Negotiated Learning

Programme Highlights

You will learn knowledge at the forefront of NanoBio Science with modules that contain elements of the latest research and newest technologies. You will learn how to innovate, commercialize and protect intellectual property.

You will be offered the chance to go to a major international conference to present a poster on your research work, and you will do your freely chosen research project in collaboration with researchers in the area of nanobio science (www.ucd.ie/nanobio) with excellent infrastructure and access to advanced nanobio technologies and computational resources.

For full-time students the programme is divided into 3 semesters. The focus of the first Semester on NanoBio and NanoOptics, the second Semester focuses on NanoBio Science and Innovation and Presentation Skills, finally the third Semester focuses on your research project work initialized in the second Semester.

For part-time students the programme is divided into 6 semesters. The focus of the first two Semesters is on NanoBio and NanoOptics. In the third Semester you will initiate your work on a research project supervised by an academic in the area of NanoBio Science. In the fourth and fifth Semester you will compliment the modules already studied and also learn Innovation and Presentation Skills.

• Nanooptics and Biophotonics PHYC40400 (C)
• Physics of Nanomaterials PHYC40410 (C)
• Spectroscopy and Lasers for BioNanoScience PHYC40420 (C)
• Nanomechanics - from single molecules to single cells PHYC40430 (C)
• Atomic Force Microscopy for BioNanoScience PHYC40440 (C)
• Programming and Interfacing Miniprojects PHYC40450 (C)
• Computational Biophysics and Nanoscale Simulations PHYC40470 (C)
• Biophysics at the Nanoscale and Nanodevices PHYC40480 (C)
• Biomimicry - learning from nature PHYC40490 (C)
• Conference PHYC40500 (C)
• Biological fluid mechanics at the micro and nanoscale PHYC40520 (O)
• Innovation and knowledge transfer BMGT42140 (O)
• Journal Club and Presentation skills PHYC40540 (C)
• Research project PHYC40510 (C)

Where can I go?

The career options include biomedical technologies, pharmaceutical industry and drug development, sustainable energy, academic and industrial research in Ireland and abroad. The NanoBio Science programme is novel and exciting and is now in its second year. Several graduates from the programme are currently working as researchers in the area of nanobio science.

If English is not your native language, unless you have done your primary degree through English in an English speaking country, an English language qualification is required for all programmes.

MSc NanoBio Science

You will need:

• A primary degree in a related area including physics, chemistry, life sciences, computer sciences, or similar. Applications can be submitted online. Fluency in English is a requirement.