Key Info

Bachelor of Science in Computer Systems

NFQ Level 8 major Award Honours Bachelor Degree

Entry route(s):

Course code
LM121
Duration
4 Years
Subject area
Engineering
Course Director
Dr. Nikola Nikolov
Email
Nikola.Nikolov@ul.ie
Admissions:
Tel
+353 (0)61 233755

Are you the kind of person who:

  • Can deal with abstract ideas and concrete details equally well?
  • Enjoys project work, constantly wanting to improve your handiwork?
  • Is interested in programming?
  • Would like a career where job satisfaction is more important than image?

Why study Computer Systems at UL?

The Computer Systems programme at UL aims to equip you with the knowledge and skills to become a successful and effective computer professional.

Many advanced and highly sophisticated software-intensive systems underpin the modern world. For example, software-based systems play an important role in all kinds of systems including smart cities, smart homes, social networks, manufacturing, finance, education, medicine, transport, and entertainment.

But creating software-intensive systems is a human activity. Despite all the advances, software-intensive systems still present many demanding challenges for the professionals who design, build, test and deploy them. Being involved in the development of computer-based systems promises to be an exciting and indispensable career for the foreseeable future.

On completion of the programme, graduates go on to a variety of interesting and rewarding software careers based in large and small organisations, in industry, in research and in education and training. As ever, the primary focus of this course is on the underlying principles of software development and their application to modern software development practices. In particular, we want you to secure a firm and lasting intellectual foundation that will allow you to acquire new and specific technical knowledge over a lifelong career. The course is designed to give you ample opportunities to learn and apply knowledge in small tutorials and practical groups.

The aims and objectives of the Computer Systems programme are:

- To develop the skills you will need in order to analyse a wide range of problems

- To provide a sound understanding of the theory of computer science and the principles of software development

- To be a competent practitioner in the fields of artificial intelligence and data science

- To develop social and communication skills that will enable you to function successfully in organisations and teams

- To develop a sense of professionalism that will help you to apply your skills for the good of society.

Entry route to Computer Systems at UL is via LM121 Computer Science Common Entry.

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What you will study

  • Principles of software design and implementation
  • Programming languages and technologies
  • Computer Science
  • Computer Organisation
  • Computer Networks
  • Operating Systems
  • Database technologies
  • Systems Analysis
  • Systems Design
  • Professional issues and ethics

An integral part of the course is the Cooperative Education period, during which you will spend eight months working in a course-related job in a business or industrial environment outside the University. You will undertake a substantial individual project in your final year, which integrates and applies your previous learning and deepens your knowledge of some particular application or research area relevant to the course.

  Semester 1   Semester 2
CS4012 Representation and Modelling CS4043 Games Modelling Design
CS4141 Introduction to Programming CS4222 Software Development
CS4221 Foundations of Computer Science 1 CS4182 Foundations of Computer Science 2
ET4011 Fundamentals of Computer Organisation ET4162 Computing System Organisation 
MA4111 Discrete Mathematics MA4402 Computer Maths 2
  Semester 3   Semester 4
CS4013 Object Oriented Development CS4006 Intelligent Systems
CS4023 Operating Systems CS4076 Event Driven Programming
CS4416 Database Systems CS4115 Data Structures and Algorithms
CS4004 Software Testing and Inspection CS4815 Computer Graphics
CS4178 Software Requirements and Modelling MA4413 Statistics for Computing
  Semester 5   Semester 6
CS4230 Cooperative Education CS4457 Project Management and Practice
CS4310 Cooperative Education CS4187 Professional Issues in Computing
    CS4084 Mobile Application Development
    CS4116 Software Development Project
    CS4106 Machine Learning: Methods and Applications
  Semester 7   Semester 8
CS4617 Computer Systems Project 1 CS4618 Computer Systems Project 2 (Double Weighted)
CS4125 Systems Analysis and Design CS4227 Software Design and Architecture
CS4011 Advanced Programming Concepts and Practices CS4158 Programming Language Technology
CS4337 Big Data Management and Security CS4168 Data Mining
CS4287 Neural Computing    

Entry requirements

Minimum grades

Applicants are required to hold at the time of enrolment the established Leaving Certificate (or an approved equivalent) with a minimum of six subjects which must include: Two H5 (Higher Level) grades and Four O6 (Ordinary Level) grades or four H7 (Higher Level) grades. Subjects must include Mathematics, Irish or another language, and English.

Subject requirements

In addition, applicants must hold a minimum grade O2/H6 in Mathematics.

Additional considerations

A Special Mathematics Examination will be offered at UL following the Leaving Certificate results for those students who did not achieve the Mathematics requirement.

We welcome applications from mature students. Mature applicants must apply through the Central Applications Office (CAO) by 1 February.

Application information for mature student applicants (PDF)

Entry to this course is gotten through the common entry course, LM121 - Bachelor of Science in Computing Technologies

Non-EU Entry Requirements

How to apply

Where are you applying from? How to Apply
Ireland Irish students must apply to UL via the CAO. More information can be found here. 
The UK  Students who have completed their A-Levels can apply to UL via the CAO. More information can be found on the Academic Registry website. 
The EU EU Students can apply to UL via the CAO. More information can be found on the Academic Registry website.
Non-EU country If you are outside of the EU, you can apply for this degree here.

 

Fees and funding

Student course fees are broken into three components - Student contribution, Student Levy and Tuition Fees.

A number of illustrative examples of fees for this course based on the current fee levels have been set out in the tables below.

An explanation of the components, how to determine status and the criteria involved is provided below the examples as is a list of possible scholarships and funding available.

EU Students with Free fees status in receipt of a SUSI grant

HEA pays Tuition Fees €2,558
SUSI pays Student contribution €3,000
Student pays Student Levy €100
€5,658

EU Students with Free fees status not in receipt of a grant

HEA pays Tuition Fees €2,558
Student pays Student contribution €3,000
Student pays Student Levy €100
€5,658

Students with EU fee status not in receipt of a grant

Student pays Tuition Fees €2,558
Student pays Student contribution €3,000
Student pays Student Levy €100
€5,658

Non-EU Students

Student pays Tuition Fees €20,900
Student pays Student Levy €100
€21,000

Student course fees are comprised of the following components:

Student Contribution

Annual charge set by the government for all full-time third level students. All students are liable unless they have been approved for a grant by Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI). Please refer to https://www.studentfinance.ie to determine your eligibility for a grant and for instructions on how to apply. The current student contribution is set at €3000.

Student Levy

All students are liable to pay the Student Levy of €100. Please note the Student Levy is not covered by the SUSI Grant.

Tuition Fees

These are based on Residency, Citizenship, Course requirements.

Review the three groups of criteria to determine your fee status as follows

  1. Residency
    • You must have been living in an EU/EEA member state or Switzerland for at least 3 of the 5 years before starting your course
  2. Citizenship
    • You must be a citizen of an EU/EEA member state or Switzerland or have official refugee status
  3. Course Requirements (all must be met)
    • You must be a first time full-time undergraduate (Exceptions are provided for students who hold a Level 6 or Level 7 qualification and are progressing to a Level 8 course in the same general area of study).
    • You must be undertaking a full-time undergraduate course of at least 2 year’s duration
    • You cannot be undertaking a repeat year of study at the same level unless evidence of exceptional circumstances eg serious illness is provided (in which case this condition may be waived)

Depending on how you meet these criteria your status will be one of the following -

  • Free Fee Status: You satisfy all three categories (1, 2 and 3) and therefore are eligible for the Higher Education Authority’s Free Fees scheme.
  • EU Fee Status: You satisfy the citizenship and/or residency criteria but fail to satisfy the course requirements and are liable to EU fees
  • Non EU Fee Status: You do not meet either the citizenship or residency criteria and are therefore liable to Non EU fees.

More information about fees can be found on the Finance website

These scholarships are available for this course

Title Award Scholarships Available
Intel Shannon "Paul Whelan" Scholarship €2,500 for the remainder of your degree
Johnson and Johnson WiSTEM2D Programme

These scholarships are available for all courses

Your future career

Employability skills from this degree

  • Evaluating potential risks and designing creative solutions
  • Teamwork
  • Communicating *written and verbal)
  • Report writing
  • Presenting reasoned arguments
  • Retrieving information
  • Coping with rapid technological changes
  • Developing commercial awareness
  • Ability to construct, design and specify computer-based systems
  • Leadership
  • Time management and organisation
  • Architectural and programming design patterns
  • Verification and validation
  • Agile development

Further Study Options

Job titles for graduates with this degree

Graduates progressing directly into employment take up a wide variety of roles. The following provides a sample of initial roles listed on the Graduate Outcomes Survey by graduates approximately one year after graduation:

  • Application Support
  • Associate Build Systems Engineer
  • Associate Software Developer/Engineer
  • Computer Programmer
  • Data Centre Engineer
  • Freelance Wordpress Designer
  • Implementation Web Developer
  • IT Analyst
  • Java Engineer
  • Junior Software Engineer
  • Network Software Engineer
  • Production Technician
  • Program Manager
  • QA Software Tester
  • Quality Assurance Engineer
  • Service Engineer
  • Sharepoint Consultant
  • Software Developer/Engineer
  • Software Technician
  • System Test Engineer
  • Systems Administrator
  • Systems Engineer
  • Technical Support
  • Unix Programmer

Student profiles

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Mara Kelly

Throughout school I was always interested in mathematics, science and technology. As IT is the fastest growing field globally, I knew that a BSc. in Computer Systems would interest me and also enable me to find work in any part of the world.

A typical day for me involves discussing new projects with clients and co-workers, in order to gather requirements and design technical plans for how any new changes will be developed, tested and deployed. I am also working on development projects in C#. Dell has been great for starting my career, as we are not pigeon-holed into one role or set of tasks. There is a huge diversity of roles across IT in areas such as development, analysis, human resources and release management, so do not think that in order to go in to IT you must be one type of person with a certain skill set! If you are interested in technology and the way things work, you can find a place in IT.

The BSc. in Computer Systems at UL gave me the technical skills to be able to understand and develop software, test plans, and requirements documents. I have also learned skills which could be applied to anything I may decide to do in the future, such as attention to detail and the ability to be a highly analytic critical thinker.

Any advice for school leavers? It sounds clichéd, but make sure you chose something you are truly interested in! A lot of people seem to be scared into choosing a course they may not love, because it is a “guaranteed” job. You should think about how you can become successful in the thing you love, rather than choosing a degree that you think will make you successful.

Mara currently works as a Software Development Analyst with Dell EMC Technologies


 

Shane Craven

I have always been interested in how computers work and from a young age knew I wanted to follow a career path in software engineering. When I was researching what computing course to choose I was drawn to Computer Systems at UL mainly due to the Co-Op placement but also the modules on offer. Having the opportunity to get hands-on experience in industry for 8 months was the deciding factor for me.

This course will provide you with the skills and knowledge needed to gain competency in the software engineering profession. There is a heavy focus on programming, as well as developing applications in mobile and web environments.

For my Co-Op placement, I worked in Amazon Web Services in Dublin which is the largest cloud computing platform in the world, powering some of the most popular websites and services available. I was based in the CloudFront Content Delivery Network team, creating an internal system that kept the service healthy and automated repairs when an issue was detected.

Throughout my placement, I got to greatly expand my knowledge of programming languages and technologies, gained invaluable practical experience in the industry and also developed a deeper understanding of how distributed systems function on a worldwide scale. When approaching potential employers at graduation, having Amazon Web Services on my CV will be a major selling point.


 

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Malvina Walsh

Since childhood, I was always very inquisitive and loved to learn about how things work. This interest drove me to be a good problem solver and lateral thinker. At secondary school I was stuck for direction but ultimately decided that the IT road appeared to provide lots of options after college ? turns out I was right!

I started my career after UL as a Test Engineer, then moved on to various other roles. This experience was invaluable and provided me with a strong business acumen in addition to my technical skill set, which eventually led me to a fantastic career at Dell.

I work as part of a team of technical specialists. My main focus is to engage with customers and help to identify solutions for their business needs. It's a fast-paced exciting role which is always at the cutting edge of technology.

IT is a great choice for people from all backgrounds. Whatever your personality you will ultimately find that there is a niche for you. There are opportunities to work in all industries and anywhere in the world. Don't forget you need to sell yourself, so big-up your experiences to future employers. Don't be afraid to be different or to go for something that seems difficult at first. With a company like Dell, you will learn from motivated enthusiastic people. Remember, nothing ventured, nothing gained!

Malvina is currently employed as an Internal Enterprise Consultant with Dell Ireland.