About Freshwater Quality Monitoring And Assessment (msc) in University College Cork

The Masters  in Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment focuses on all aspects of water quality monitoring including; monitoring programme design, quality assurance, data handling, monitoring and assessment of rivers, lakes and groundwater, biological and ecological methods for water quality monitoring and water quality monitoring technology. There will also be an opportunity to take part in a Field Workshop in a designated developing country during the second year of the course.

This “Train the Trainers” course is aimed at high level staff involved in water quality monitoring in developing countries, especially those who are part of the UNEP GEMS/Water network. These may be staff responsible for the training of water quality monitoring technicians, staff in a university who are responsible for training students in water quality monitoring practices or staff who run monitoring programmes in national or regional laboratories. This course is also very relevant to Irish and EU students who wish to specialise in water quality monitoring and assessment, and study online on a flexible part-time basis.

The Sustainable Development Goal for water (SDG 6) which requires participating countries to monitor and report regularly on the quality of their water bodies to the UN Statistical Division, is creating a huge additional demand for knowledge, understanding and capacity in developing countries. This Masters in Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment, will facilitate the development of expertise in countries that will lead to a more sustainable development of capacity in the long-term.

Occupations associated with the MSc in Freshwater Quality Monitoring and Assessment

• Government Departments responsible for water resources management
• National Water Agencies
• Water Authorities
• Water laboratories

Placement and Study Abroad Opportunities

There is an opportunity to take part in a field workshop module in Year 2 of the course. This training workshop will be held in a less developed country and students will gain experience in practical water quality monitoring methods.

Academic qualification equivalents

• Applicants should have an honours degree in a related subject.
• Indian applicants will normally be required to achieve a first class/first division mark in their undergraduate programme at a good institution of higher education in India. At the discretion of academic departments, students with degrees awarded by top universities such as the University of Mumbai, University of Delhi, University of Calcutta, and the University of Pune, may be accepted with high second class/high second division marks. 

English language requirements (one of the below):

• IELTS: 6.5  Minimum individual sections 5.5
• TOEFL: TOEFL 90  Listening - 17; Reading - 18; Speaking - 20; Writing 17
• PTE: 63 Minimum individual sections 51

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