Queen’s University offers 40 full scholarships for MSc Applied Cyber Security

Queen's University Belfast is offering 40 fully paid scholarships for its specialist Applied Cyber Security MSc programme in an investment worth over £500,000.

The cyber-security industry has been booming in Belfast in recent years, with local firms such as SaltDNA and Anomali making waves in the global industry and US-based giants such as Imperva choosing Belfast as the base for their new cyber-security operations. The demand for qualified cyber-security staff has risen sharply, and the number of graduates each year isn't keeping up.

Queen's University Belfast has announced that it will be offering 40 fully paid scholarships to its Applied Cyber Security MSc programme to help solve the skills gap problem. The scholarships were announced at the Addressing the Skills Gap event held in The Mac last night, and represent an investment of over half a million pounds in training.

The scheme is open to both recent graduates and those in industry who want to retrain and change career to work in cyber-security. It will provide graduates with an understanding of the wide range of cyber-security challenges facing companies and individuals, with the syllabus being heavily informed by ongoing cutting-edge research at CSIT.

The cyber-security industry was recently estimated to provide around £70m in salaries to Northern Ireland, and growth shows no signs of slowing with Imperva alone planning to create 220 new jobs in Belfast. The Financial Times fDi Markets report even named Northern Ireland as the top international location for US cyber-security development projects.

Professor Philip Hanna, Director of Education at the School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Queen’s University Belfast said: "The launch of the 40 scholarships for the Applied Cyber Security MSc at Queen’s comes at an apt time for one of the fastest-growing sectors in Northern Ireland and in the world. Thirst for cyber security talent is strong and will intensify further in the future, so initiatives of this nature are essential to maintain the sector’s vibrancy."

To apply for the course or for more information, head over to http://go.qub.ac.uk/appliedcyber

Source: Written based on press release