Professional Diploma in Practical AI for Software Developers (part-time)

Candidates must hold at least a Second Class Honours Level 8 primary degree in a related subject area or hold a primary degree in a related area (which is acceptable to the college) without honours and have three years’ relevant practical experience in the subject area. 

Academic entry requirements standardised per country are available here.  

Candidates must hold a Level 8 qualification (or equivalent) with at least a Second Class Honours from a recognized university or college in a numerate field and must possess programming experience.  

Candidates with a Level 7 qualification can also apply if they can show they have gained Level 8 skills through at least two years of work experience in IT or a tech-related role. 

Important: This is a springboard+ course and admission is conditional on meeting springboard+ requirements available ere https://springboardcourses.ie/eligibility 

English Language Entry Requirements
For applicants whose first language is not English, an English language proficiency of IELTS score of 6.5 is required (with no less than 6.5 in Writing and no less than 6.0 in any other band) or equivalent.  

More information on English language test equivalency are available here.  

Supporting Documents  
Cover Letter, CV, and Academic Transcripts. 

University of Galway recognises that knowledge and skills can be acquired from a range of learning experiences. This is in line with the National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ) goals which aim to recognise all learning achievements by supporting the development of alternative pathways to qualifications (or awards) and by facilitating the recognition of prior learning (RPL). 

Recognition of prior learning is facilitated automatically during the application phase.  

Graduates of this programme will be equipped with in-demand AI skills, opening diverse career pathways across various industries. The key career pathways include: 

• AI Software Engineer 
• Machine Learning Engineer 
• Data Scientist 
• AI Product Developer 
• Embedded AI engineer
• Mobile AI Engineer
• AI Solutions Architect
• MLOps Engineer

Unique Features of this Course

• Fully online including labs, lectures and assessment
• Part time with labs taking place outside of normal working hours.  
• Practical approach allows applicants to learn in-demand AI skills  
• Provides students with up-to-date knowledge on how to deploy real AI models in the industry.
• As a springboard funded course, most or all the fees are covered by springboard, subject to eligability.  

Graduates of the professional diploma in practical AI for Software developers will be able to :  

• To apply appropriate machine learning & artificial intelligence algorithms to real-world problems.
• Gain the ability to quantify, and compare the security, privacy, data and environmental implications of public facing AI models and select options to mitigate them where possible.
• Obtain advanced skills in integrating and deploying AI models in customer facing software platforms.
• Obtain a broad, practical grounding in the field of artificial intelligence.
• Design and develop a comprehensive AI deployment pipeline that integrates one or more pre-trained AI models and platforms while addressing performance, security, and operational challenges.
• Critically assess and synthesize AI research for software development, demonstrating the ability to communicate findings effectively through written and oral presentations.

As a springboard+ funded course, 90% of the fees are paid for those in employment and 100% of fees are paid for the unemployed subject to springboard eligibility requirements.  

Course queries: 
ictskills@universityofgalway.ie  

Programme Director(s):  

Dr. Joseph Lemley 
E: joseph.lemley@universityofgalway.ie  
Assistant Professor 
Computer Science 
University of Galway 

Dr. Priyanka Verma
E: priyanka.verma@universityofgalway.ie 
Assistant Professor 
Computer Science 
University of Galway