Explore UCD

UCD Home >

MEngSc in Chemical Engineering

MEngSc (NFQ Level 9)

This course is available through the following application route(s)

Contact Us

The Chemical Engineering industry in Ireland is one of its strongest exporting sectors and is representative of the chemical process industries worldwide. Opportunities for employment exist in a broad range of areas including: the pharmaceutical industry, the petrochemical and energy industries, the ICT industries including medical devices, and the heavy chemicals industries. The MEngSc in Chemical Engineering offers advanced level education for students with primary degrees in chemical engineering/technology programmes. On this programme you will improve your conceptual and practical skills in both the fundamental and applied principles of chemical engineering practice. The programme covers advanced topics in chemical engineering and includes extensive project work in both design (featuring both individual and team elements/efforts) and in an individualised research project.

The UCD School of Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering is home to a 5 million euro state-of the-art microscopy laboratory which includes FIB-SEM, a Cryo-TEM and a high end XPS/AES/SIMS facility, as well as a range of analytical tools including AFM, FTIR, UV-Vis and chromatography (HPLC/GC-MS). Laboratory facilities available for project work include Multiphase Flow apparatus, Membrane Reactors, Vacuum Pressure Swing Adsorption for gas separations, Atomic Layer Deposition and Chemical Bath Deposition apparatus, a suite of photoelectrochemical facilities including solar simulators and potentiostats for solar cell work, and preparatory laboratories for the synthesis of proprietary materials and access to plasma deposition systems with concomitant analytical tools (e.g. ellipsometry).

About This Course

Graduates from this programme will advance their careers through a thorough understanding of advanced topics in Chemical Engineering and related topics in other major fields of engineering. In this way, they will prepare themselves for undertaking positions of responsibility within chemical-engineering practice, as well as learning a whole suite of advanced technical material and undertaking cutting-edge design and research projects. In particular, the latest state of the art in disparate areas of research-led process engineering, ranging in scope from materials to experimental design, alongside advanced transport phenomena, will afford the development of a very thorough fundamental understanding of advanced chemical-engineering practice. 

  • Enhancement of technical skills in advanced aspects of chemical engineering. In particular, the leading research activities of the School of Chemical & Bioprocess Engineering lend themselves to substantial embedding of leading research practice in the programme's modules.
  • Graduates will play an important role in the development, design and operation of chemical processes in industry at international level in the coming years.
  • Sense of independence and self-starting skills fostered by carrying out a semester-long advanced research project, to a demanding and open-ended level.
  • The ability to carry out a comprehensive group-based and open-ended design project, to the rigorous standard set by the IChemE.
  • The ability to carry out an open-ended Design-of-Experiments analysis, in order to set up and analyses suites of experiments and for process and product optimisation.
  • The ability to think critically and solve industrially-relevant problems.
  • Time- and effort- management skills, in terms of multi-tasking and prioritising workflows, on an individual and group basis.

Your career opportunities upon graduation from this programme are exemplary. Graduates will play an important role in the development, design and operation of chemical processes in industry at international level in the coming years. 
Graduates can enter a wide selection of possible industries including fine chemicals (e.g. Proctor and Gamble), heavy chemicals (e.g. CRH), pharmaceuticals (e.g. Pfizer, Lilly, Merck), oil and gas (e.g. Conoco Philips, Exxon, Shell, Chevron), as well as consulting and business.

Below is a list of all modules offered for this degree in the current academic year. Click on the module to discover what you will learn in the module, how you will learn and assessment feedback profile amongst other information.

Incoming Stage 1 undergraduates can usually select an Elective in the Spring Trimester. Most continuing undergraduate students can select up to two Elective modules (10 Credits) per stage. There is also the possibility to take up to 10 extra Elective credits.

Module Type Module   Trimester Credits
Stage 1 Core Modules
CHEN30010 Chemical & Bioprocess Reaction Engineering Autumn  5
Stage 1 Core Modules
CHEN40150 Advanced Separation Processes Autumn  5
Stage 1 Core Modules
CHEN40160 Advanced Heat Transfer and Fluid Mechanics Autumn  5
Stage 1 Core Modules
CHEN40210 Advanced Experimental Design Autumn  5
Stage 1 Core Modules
CHEN40620 Advanced Process Design Autumn  10
Stage 1 Core Modules
CHEN30200 Chem & Bioprocess Eng Design Spring  10
Stage 1 Core Modules
CHEN40010 Environmental Engineering Spring  5
Stage 1 Core Modules
CHEN40440 Chem Proc Sust & Ren Energy Spring  5
Stage 1 Core Modules
CHEN40510 Advanced Characterisation Tech Spring  5
Stage 1 Core Modules
CHEN40560 Process Control Spring  5
Stage 1 Core Modules
CHEN40450 Chemical Engineering Project Summer  30

Graduate Profile - Chenxi Qi

"I graduated with a degree in Chemical Engineering from Tianjin University of Technology (China) in 2019 with one-year study-abroad experiences in Finland and Poland. I chose to study for my masters in UCD as it is the top place to study for chemical engineering in Ireland, according to the QS World University Rankings by subject. In addition, lots of chemical and pharmaceutical companies are based in Ireland, which provide a wide range of career opportunities. During my time of study at UCD, the courses used innovative ways of teaching. Some specialists in the chemical industries were invited to give lectures and guide my group projects. Even with COVID-19, the courses made the complete transition to online teaching quite well. Also, administrative staff were extremely friendly and helpful, such as keeping students updated of new career opportunities. Moreover, the university had a lot of social activities which help students to relax after classes. So, I believe UCD is certainly the best university to enjoy both study and social life."

MEngSc in Chemical Engineering (T218) Full Time
EU          fee per year - € 9300
nonEU    fee per year - € 29100

***Fees are subject to change

Please note that UCD offers a number of graduate scholarships for full-time, self-funding international students, holding an offer of a place on a UCD graduate degree programme. For further information please see www.ucd.ie/global/scholarships/

  • A Chemical Engineering honours undergraduate degree (NFQ level 8) with a minimum upper second class honours  or international equivalence.
  • Applicants whose first language is not English must also demonstrate English language proficiency of IELTS 6.5 (no band less than 6.0 in each element), or equivalent.
  • Students meeting the programme’s academic entry requirements but not the English language requirements, may enter the programme upon successful completion of UCD’s International Pre-Master’s Pathway programmes. Please see the following link for further information: https://www.ucd.ie/alc/programmes/pathways/int%20pmp/
  • These are the minimum entry requirements – additional criteria may be requested for some programmes 

Full Time option suitable for:

Domestic(EEA) applicants: Yes
International (Non EEA) applicants currently residing outside of the EEA Region. Yes


General application route(s) for Irish/UK/EU applicants* for International (non-EU) applicants* to MEngSc in Chemical Engineering:

ROWCLASS Apply to   Application Type  
showAudience-audienceEU showAudience-audienceInt T218
MEngSc in Chemical Engineering
Master of Engineering Science
Full-Time
Commencing 2024/2025 September
Graduate Taught Apply
* you can change options at the top of the page