Entry to the Professional Certificate and the Certificate of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is open to all faculty and academic-related who meet the following three criteria:

1) currently teaching in higher education (i.e. within a university or at NFQ level 7 or above).
2) in an active teaching role including design, delivery and assessment of modules
3) undertaking a significant teaching commitment, defined as a minimum of 2 hours teaching per week per semester or 48 hours over the course of the academic year. 

These programmes are generally not suitable for Postdoctoral Research Fellows (PD Fellows). A bespoke Seminar Series for Post Doctoral Research Fellows is offered by UCD Teaching and Learning. Contact researchcareers@ucd.ie for further information and to register.

In the exceptional circumstances where a PD Fellow (level 2) is approved as module coordinator by Academic Council (or its relevant subcommittee) and has already completed the Seminar Series for Post Doctoral Research Fellows they may apply to enter the programmes. The onus is on the applicant to provide evidence that they meet these two conditions.

No, these programmes are not suitable for post-graduate students. There are other teaching development opportunities available for post-graduate students.

Applications for 2024/25 September start will be open from late January until early May 2024.

Application to the programmes starting in January 2024 are now closed.

The final decision on the eligibility of all candidates will be made by the UTL Board of Studies. 

The programme is overseen by the Academic Affairs Board of Studies, chaired by Professor Barbara Dooley (acting Registrar and Deputy President) which is responsible for the design, development, regulation, quality and general oversight of the Professional Certificate and Certificate of Continuing Professional Development, University Teaching and Learning.

The programmes are subject to the University’s General Regulations available in the UCD Governance Document Library which govern taught graduate programmes; including assessment regulations; late submission of assessment; application of extenuating circumstances; withdrawal from the programmes and leave of absence requests.

The outcome of applications made to the Professional Certificate and the Certificate of CPD January 2024 start will be notified in mid December 2023.

Yes the teaching commitment referred to in the eligibility criteria must be on accredited modules.

UCD Registry will allocate you a ‘Registration Start Time’ For more information please visit the Registration page on the UCD Current Students website. It is advisable to register for both modules for the full duration of the programme (as appropriate) during your allocated start time.

Once you have registered on a programme you must take a minimum of 7.5 credits in a trimester. In general it is recommended that students would do one module per trimester. However, if some students have more time to dedicate to CPD in teaching, it is possible to take two modules in a trimester. However, it should be noted that this 15 credit workload is equivalent to half the workload of a full time undergraduate student and it is not permissible to take two modules with a conflicting timetable.

If you are unable to take a module in any given trimester a formal leave of absence must be requested. From 1 August 2016, the standard leave of absence form can be accessed and completed via SISWeb by selecting Programme Services and My Leave of Absence/Withdrawal Requests.

For a 7.5 credit module you can expect to spend between 150-187 hours in total, which will include scheduled sessions, tutorials, self-directed learning tasks and practice-based activities as part of your normal teaching duties.

No. For the Professional Certificate students choose two modules (one per trimester). In general it is recommended that students would do one module per trimester. For the Certificate of Continuing Professional Development students choose one of the modules on offer. 

Yes.  Attendance at ALL scheduled sessions is required. If you miss a session due to illness or similar emergency you should contact the module coordinator as soon as possible afterwards to discuss what alternative arrangements need to be made. 

Times and dates of all module sessions appear in the Modules on Offer section of this webpage. 

Once enrolled on a programme and a module the module timetable should be accessed via Brightspace or SISWeb, where venue details will also be included. 

No, for faculty and academic staff who are employed by UCD, the programme fee is waived. However the fee for resit/repeat will be applied.

Please consult the UCD Withdrawal policy. From 1 August 2016, the standard withdrawal form can be accessed and completed via SISWeb by selecting Programme Services and My Leave of Absence/Withdrawal Requests. Students should still return their student card to their Programme/School Office as appropriate. Students making an application for a retrospective withdrawal from their programme are still required to complete a paper form. Please note that a withdrawal may leave you liable for fees. For further information please consult the UCD Withdrawal policy or seek advice via studentdesk@ucd.ie

The programme is subject to the University’s General Regulations which govern taught graduate programmes; including assessment regulations; late submission of assessment; application of extenuating circumstances; withdrawal from the Programmes and leave of absence requests. Further information is available at UCD Governance Document Library