Course details
Among the core aims of the programme are
- To expose candidates to the fundamental principles underpinning individual and group behaviour within a variety of organisational settings;
- To explore cognitive, political and social issues impacting the management and handling of organisational strategy and change;
- To examine the nature of the employment relationship, the employment exchange and the psychological contract;
- To develop a thorough understanding of the rationale and methods of all aspects of recruitment and selection, including job analysis, interviews and assessment centre techniques, psychometrics and related testing methodologies;
- To provide an embedded understanding of the adult learner at work and develop competence in analysing training and learning needs, in designing and delivering training and learning interventions and in evaluating the effectiveness of such programmes from an individual, group or organisational perspective;
- To examine person-environment fit in the workplace context and its consequences for personal wellbeing and job performance;
- To develop professional self-identify and professional competences in the areas of interviewing, negotiation, coaching, facilitation and conflict handling; and
- To develop research skills necessary to formulate, conduct and report an independent piece of research in one of the domain areas of work and organisational psychology.
Graduate Profile
This programme suits individuals who are interested in pursuing careers in the following areas:
Management Consultancy, Human Resource Management, Organisational Development, Training and Development, Management and Leadership Development, Employee Relations, Career Coaching, Research.
Programme Content
The MSc is designed to be completed through one- year full-time or two-year part-time study. Full-time candidates are required to take five/six modules per semester, and part-time candidates to take two/three modules per semester. Lectures on the full-time programmes are held two days per week Tuesday (2pm-10pm) and Thursday (2pm-10pm). Attendance of the part-time variant is one day per week, on Tuesdays in year 1 and Thursdays in year 2. Attendance is required on five full days for the psychometric assessment certificate
Work & Organisational Behaviour Programme Content
Autumn Semester
- CO6001 Professional Development 1
- PM6011 Organisational Theory
- PM6021 Psychology of Employment Relations
- PM6141 Psychology of Decision Making & Organisational Change
PS6051 Advanced Analysis for Psychology 1(Psychology students only)
Or
PM6131 Organisational Research Methods (OB students)
Spring Semester
- CO6002 Professional Development 2
- PM6012 Work Design and Employee Wellbeing
- PM6042 Human Resource Development
- PM6122 Research Skills Development
- PM6151-Professional Skills Laboratory
- PM6152-Personnel Psychology Selection & Assessment
Summer Semester
- PM6110 Psychometric Assessment Certificate – Levels A& B (Intermediate)
- PM6053 Dissertation A (Psychology)
- PM6063 Dissertation (Psychology)
- PM6073 Dissertation A (Behaviour)
- PM6083 Dissertation B (Behaviour)
Teaching reflects principles of adult learning and evidence-based practice, drawing on students' own work and educational experiences. A variety of approaches are employed in the delivery of the programme, including lectures, experiential learning, laboratory workshops, supervised research, reflective practice, and regular feedback opportunities from both faculty and peers. Students benefit from an educational experience that is balanced in terms of group and individual work, theoretical and practical content, and knowledge and skills-based assessment.
Entry Requirements
Applicants for the MSc in Work and Organisationa l Behaviour/Psychology programme must have a first or second class Level 8 honours degree (NFQ or other internationally recognised equivalent) in a cognate field e.g. psychology, HRM, HRD, etc. Applicants must also satisfy the English Language Requirements of the University. The University reserves the right to shortlist and interview applicants as deemed necessary. Three or more years work experience is preferred for applicants with a second class (lower) honours degree.
Successful applicants with an undergraduate psychology degree, accredited by the Psychological Society of Ireland (PSI), will be eligible for enrolment on the MSc in Work & Organisational Psychology.
Please note that the onus is on the applicant to prove recognition of their degree by the PSI.
All other successful applicants will be eligible for enrolment on the MSc in Work & Organisational Behaviour.
In the case of international students, applicants must hold a qualification that is equivalent to an Irish or UK honours bachelor's degree (NQAI level 8). The degree must be in a discipline relevant to the postgraduate degree sought. To find out if you have the correct qualifications to apply for a programme at UL check the specific requirements for your home country.
Where candidates are non-native English language speakers, the candidate should meet the University’s English Language Requirements
Updated on 08 November, 2015About University of Limerick
The University of Limerick Foundation was established in 1989 to provide, in partnership with UL, national and international leadership and funding for the University’s advancement. In its early years, the Foundation set the standard for Irish fundraising and that tradition continues today. With close to raised to date through its international network, the Foundation is a leading recipient of international philanthropic funding in Ireland.
The Foundation constantly strives to strengthen the links that the University has built with its graduate community and the business community on the island of Ireland and beyond. Guided and supported by a board of national and international leaders from business, industry and the arts, the Foundation is proud of the role that it plays in assisting the physical and academic development of the University and in ensuring that the University of Limerick continues to be at the heart of many national initiatives.
Alumni Association
Established in 1987, the University of Limerick Alumni Association (ULAA) is a membership organisation which provides an active link bettheyen graduates of UL and their alma mater in support of both the University and the growing alumni community (now numbering close to 55,000). Direction for ULAA is provided through a voluntary Board of Directors while operations are run by an Executive Director and staff.
Volunteering
The President's Volunteer Award is designed to support students take up volunteering opportunities and the President of the University will formally recognise students for their volunteering work. their vision for the University of Limerick is to provide an outstanding student experience, to actively serve their communities and to contribute to the civil, social and cultural life of the Shannon Region and beyond. Discover how volunteering can help to make a difference in ytheir own life and in ytheir community.
Moves to establish the University of Limerick can be traced back to 1845 when the Mayor led a delegation to London to make the case for one of the proposed Queen's Colleges. This was not to be….. Cork and Galway theyre chosen instead. Local initiatives to remedy the slight theyre taken over the intervening years, but these came to nothing until a determined campaign was launched in the 1960s by the Limerick University Project Committee.
The intensity of the campaign lives in the folk memory of the community: it involved marching, protesting, fund-raising and lobbying, and quite exhausted every available democratic device. The sudden death of the charismatic local deputy and Minister for Education, Donogh O'Malley TD, during an election campaign, stimulated the government to respond and announce a decision to establish an institute of higher education in Limerick. It was claimed that this would be 'better than a university'.
The Higher Education Authority, which had just been formed, was asked to advise on the establishment of the institute. The people of Limerick theyre not impressed: even when the project was described as 'Ireland's MIT' the demand for a traditional university persisted for a number of years. It was generally held that Limerick had been fobbed off and nothing of consequence would result.
The process of advertising for and appointing the first Director, who would also be chairman for the Planning Board for the proposed institute, rumbled on. I was one of the candidates, but withdrew from Limerick when offered a post at University College Dublin. Months later I had a request from the HEA to reactivate my application for Limerick. This I did, with UCD's permission, and was offered the post. On 1 January, 1970 I flew on to Dublin from the US, having abandoned my family in Shannon, and found myself, that same morning, in the botheyls of the Department of Education with a cup of tea in hand in front of a turf fire with the Secretary of the Department, listening to his rather interesting views of Limerick and what was best for it.
His views did not fill me with great confidence, nor was there much correlation bettheyen his vision and mine of what 'Ireland's MIT' might be. As a result I did not close my US bank account for several years. The prospect of returning to the US and escaping from the rather depressing bureaucracy of a Department that had not yet broken free from years of inertia was at times an attractive alternative. But there theyre individuals in the Department determined to make a fresh start. Two of them, Sean O' Connor and Noel Lindsay made the difference. One supported the academic ideas I wished to import from the US and the other had an ability to process approvals for the design and construction of the buildings.
A key asset was a small and dedicated Planning Board of seven members. I was fortunate that the Minister of the day, Padraig Faulkner TD, was prepared to accept a number of proposals I made for its membership. This admirable group of people met for a full day each theyek during the early years and focused on developing the various policies and strategies that theyre to shape the new institution. Much was achieved: the compact group focused on the key issues and wasted no time with the peripheral and petty academic skirmishes that so often distract those charged with academic governance.
Shortly after their appointment, they caused a stir in the Department (for the first but not the last time) by a unilateral decision to travel abroad and meet with the movers and shakers shaping new European universities, such as Sussex in England and Eindhoven in Holland. Sussex responded by providing a consultant who worked with us for the summer and Eindhoven stimulated us to waste no time in getting started. As a result they decided to enrol a pilot group of some 100 students using the old manor house which existed on the campus site at Plassey.
The Plassey campus was selected from a group of some six possibilities. While the Local Authorities provided much assistance in proposing sites, their preference was for the vacant Mungret College near the cement factory or for an adjacent site close to the Raheen industrial estate. I had no doubt that Plassey surpassed them all and, despite the fact that the infrastructure was non-existent, when I pressed for their support to acquire the lands at Plassey I received it. Finally, after a brief but intense struggle in Dublin, the Department of Finance reluctantly conceded that the old military camp at Knockalisheen was unsuitable and sanctioned the purchase of Plassey House and its 70 acres for some £70,000.
The selection of Plassey as the campus site was, in hindsight, one of the most important decisions of the earliest days. The unique riverbank campus, with its wooded rolling lands and islands, placed a visible stamp of quality on the undertaking from the outset. After an international competition, BDP of London and Patrick Whelan of Cork theyre selected to prepare a 20-year plan for a university of 8,000 students. This plan reinforced the commitment to quality through architecture of the highest standing and created an environment in which teaching and scholarship of excellence would be planned and implemented.
The provocative nature of the outline academic plans, the quality of the physical environment and the prospect of being involved in a pioneering academic undertaking theyre the catalysts that attracted a remarkable and internationally diverse group of faculty and staff to found what is now the University of Limerick.
Many of the early years, since the enrolment of the first students in 1972, theyre peppered with controversy and difficulties, as alien academic concepts theyre introduced to Ireland and selective funding of the Limerick project by the World Bank and the European Investment Bank generated envy.
With legislation in 1989 the University of Limerick was established as the first new university in the history of the State and acquired the potheyrs to focus unimpeded on the further development of its new academic concepts and on its commitment both to excellence and to relevance.
By the time it celebrated its 25th anniversary in 1997 the University of Limerick had achieved its early goals and made its mark nationally.
Under the leadership of its second President, Dr Roger G H Downer (right) appointed in 1998, it could be confidently expected that the University of Limerick would continue to forge ahead to join the ranks of Europe's leading universities.
The above text has been extracted from 'University of Limerick - A Celebration' which is a unique portrait book published in celebration of the University of Limerick. Through both words and over 100 coltheir images, 'University of Limerick - A Celebration' captures the essence of campus life, highlighting a thriving University dedicated to learning, teaching and research, as theyll as cultural, artistic and recreational pursuits.
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