IT Security MSc

dlofnep

I'm finished with my honours degree in April, and I'm looking for opportunities in the field of IT security (preferably network security).

I'm not entirely sure whether to go down the taught or research route for a MSc. I wish to follow it up straight away with a PhD, so I'm not sure whether to apply for a research MSc and transfer to PhD level afterwards.

My current college (WIT) looks like it will have a taught security MSc this year. I know that UCC have research opportunities at PhD level, so that could be an option after my MSc.

I'm wondering is there any other security courses at masters level available to me in Ireland, or even in Britain.

Thanks in advance.

Cannibal Ox

I don't know about your area but generally if you want to go straight in to a PhD you're probably better off doing a research masters. The only problem with that is you might've missed most of the funding opportunities at this stage for next year, so if you planned on getting funding for your masters it might be worth taking a year out once you've finished your undergrad and then applying for funding for the year after. Someone in your area could probably give you better advice though! Maybe ask your career services people as well, or any lecturers you might have in that area.

Edit: also findamasters.com should help you look for other courses.

dlofnep

Would it be possible to go ahead with a 1 year taught masters, and then start a research PhD? I'd rather not sit out for a year as I'm keen to get it done while i'm in the mindframe to study.

thebossanova

Cannibal Ox wrote: »

I don't know about your area but generally if you want to go straight in to a PhD you're probably better off doing a research masters. The only problem with that is you might've missed most of the funding opportunities at this stage for next year, so if you planned on getting funding for your masters it might be worth taking a year out once you've finished your undergrad and then applying for funding for the year after. Someone in your area could probably give you better advice though! Maybe ask your career services people as well, or any lecturers you might have in that area.

Edit: also findamasters.com should help you look for other courses.

looking for a masters myself, great link! thanks

Swindon

lit run a digital forensics/security MSc(taught) that may be of interest to you...

dlofnep

I would rather do it with a university as IT's are severely underfunded. I'm not really interested in forensics. Employment opportunities in forensics are few and far between. I'd rather something more in line with network security.

I'll have a look at their course content, but doubtful it's for me if it wastes too much time on forensics. Thanks though!

rainbow kirby

DCU has a masters in security and forensic computing.

Cannibal Ox

dlofnep wrote: »

Would it be possible to go ahead with a 1 year taught masters, and then start a research PhD? I'd rather not sit out for a year as I'm keen to get it done while i'm in the mindframe to study.

Of course! The reason I said do a research masters is because it can lead directly in to your PhD, i.e, you do your research on a similar topic as the PhD, maybe you narrow it down to one area of your planned PhD area, and when you come round to starting the PhD you'll have gotten a decent bit of the literature read already, had experience doing research on your own, and you'll know by then whether doing a PhD is really for you. Plus, there's the funding you could possibly get for a research masters, which is always nice.

Taught masters are good in different ways, you can broaden your knowledge, increase it in areas you already know, make contacts with other students/lecturers, and other reasons that I can't quite think of right now :pac: I'm doing a taught masters, and for what I'm doing I'm much happier doing it then a research masters.

dlofnep

I think I'll go down the taught masters route if funding is going to be an issue. Worst case scenario, I have a productive year and a masters at the end of it! Worst case scenario for sitting out a year is I get lazy and lose the will to study.

Gotta keep on trucking, as they say.

It would have been helpful if we were given a talk at the start of the year for people who had intended to do a masters, to give us an overview on funding, and opportunities and the likes. But not a word. If they want to increase the amount of postgraduates, they should at least have a look at this.

Swindon

Meant to tell you that UL have a taught MSc also...

http://www2.ul.ie/web/WWW/Services/Research/Graduate_School/Prospective_Students/Graduate_Programmes/Taught_Programmes/Science_&_Engineering/Information_and_Network_Security

dlofnep

Thanks Will take a look.

samhail

yeah stick with it ... rather than sitting a year out or working for a year... cos once you start earning money its gonna be hard to go back
though a 2 year part time might be nice to do.

Annuv

Hi dlofnep, sorry I can't be of any assistance to you but I was wondering if you have any more information about the new Security Msc in WIT? Is there any links where I could find out more details?

Thanks

dlofnep

Annuv wrote: »

Hi dlofnep, sorry I can't be of any assistance to you but I was wondering if you have any more information about the new Security Msc in WIT? Is there any links where I could find out more details?

Thanks

Hey - don't have anything on paper yet, but I'll drop you a message when I hear about it. I think I'll just go do the security one in DCU. Either that, or the networking masters in Trinity.

snappieT

dlofnep wrote: »

Either that, or the networking masters in Trinity.

I'm in it now, and there in very little to do with security on the course. One 5 credit module (out of 60 taught credits, and 90 credits total for the course). I know someone in the DCU one, and it seems great. Bear in mind that "security" means more than "network security" though.

dlofnep

snappieT wrote: »

I'm in it now, and there in very little to do with security on the course. One 5 credit module (out of 60 taught credits, and 90 credits total for the course). I know someone in the DCU one, and it seems great. Bear in mind that "security" means more than "network security" though.

Yeah, I got a look at the syllabus from someone who did the security course in DCU - it looks interesting. Thanks for the feedback on the Networking course - do you have the syllabus by any chance?