The STEM sector has been riding a seemingly endless wave of growth. As humankind continues to reach for the stars, the work undertaken in tech, research and design is expanding exponentially. This has led to the creation of new job types and also to immense skills gaps across the sector. Employer demand for STEM qualifications and skills is high and will continue to increase in the future.
STEM is more than just a group of subjects it more closely reflects a skills set. It uses logic to creatively solve problems.
With STEM skills, you can make a big contribution to many of the big challenges facing society today. From designing visual for a new film, to working as a physiotherapist in a hospital, to inventing a new hi-tech health scanner, to manufacturing a new mobile phone, to writing the code for a new software programme or putting new satellites into space, there are thousands of exciting and well-paid opportunities.
There are different routes into STEM careers at different educational levels, from level 5 and 6, through apprenticeships or from relevant degrees and master programmes.
STEM crosses all career sectors and nearly every job in the future will require STEM/STEAM skills. In this page we are bringing together information on some of the more obvious STEM sectors.
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The engineering sector itself is made up of a wide range of companies providing a diverse range of products and services.
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Physical and Mathematical Sciences is a broad sector, with many potential career paths for those with qualifications and suitable skillsets, including medical work, engineering, teaching, finance and technology.
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Sample Courses
The course content is designed in collaboration with industry partners to meet the needs of the ever-evolving agri-food industry. Topics covered...
Throughout this course students develop an understanding of the physicochemical and biological principles that underpin the design, function,...
The programme provides students with the knowledge, skills and competencies in IT infrastructure and cybersecurity and is designed around five key...
This course aims to produce graduates with the skills needed for employment as technicians/technologists or scientific personnel in the fields of...
Learning about AI is essential for anyone interested in leveraging the power of technology to solve real-world problems. This Computing with AI...
The UCD Science (DN200) course offers 27 degree subjects categorised into streams. Students can study subjects from more than one stream in first...
This programme has been developed in conjunction with people working in the industries that employ our graduates. We aim to produce graduates who...
In the BSc degree students study a broad range of subjects inlcuding Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Engineering Science, Mathematics – and...
Environmental Studies with Business combines the study of sustainability and environmental issues with business areas such as accounting and...
Biomedical science is the term for the investigations carried out by medical scientists on samples of tissue and body fluids to diagnose disease...
Biomedical electronics involves the application of electronic circuits and technologies for treating medical conditions, monitoring...
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Sample Occupations
Gas engineers are responsible for extracting and treating gas, and installing and maintaining the gas network from source to customer.
Operates, sets-up or repairs a variety of machine tools used in the production of precision parts and instruments.
Wash and polish windows, and collect money for the service provided.
Forms an integral part of the construction and operations phases and is typically required to oversee and report on all the electrical operational, installation and safety requirements for the project.
Analyses the needs of the end users of computers and writes specifications for programmers and technicians.
Writes and publishes pages for a website, presenting the content in the most suitble way for the website’s target audience.
General assistants carry out a range of duties in factories. Tasks may include moving goods, cleaning up and loading and unloading vehicles.
Chemical plant process technicians monitor the equipment and machinery used to make chemical products including colourants like dyes and paints, drugs and medicines and fertilisers.
Safely and efficiently operates the equipment and machinery in a power plant.
A Software Tester is involved in the quality assurance stage of software development and deployment. Doing automated and manual tests to ensure the software created by developers is fit for purpose and any bugs or issues are removed within a product before it gets deployed to everyday users.
Inspects and enforces health and hygiene standards in the community at large. Carries out inspections to ensure that health and safety regulations are being followed at work, and in public places such as leisure centres, shops and restaurants.
Designs and creates an app for just about any computing device, from desktop computers to mobile devices. Once the app exists, the developer will help test it and correct any bugs prior to the launch of the app.