STEM & Life Science · Ireland

STEM & Life Science Courses in Ireland

Every course, college and career path in one place — filterable, sourced, and built without a single invented statistic. Where we don't have a real number, we say so instead of guessing.

289Courses

18Colleges & Providers

9Career Specialisms

Where the 289 courses sit

Biotech & Biopharma Science 84 General Pharma & Life Science 57 Manufacturing & Bioprocessing 48 Quality, GMP & Validation 27 Pharmacology & Pharmacy 26 Regulatory & Pharmacovigilance 19 Medical Devices 13 Drug Development & Discovery 12 Clinical Research & Trials 3

Where Ireland's international students come from

This is university-wide data — Ireland's Higher Education Authority doesn't publish a field-of-study breakdown, so these figures aren't STEM-specific. We're showing exactly what's verifiable, not stretching it to look more complete than it is.

20.6%

India

Up from 13.5% in 2022/23 — now Ireland's largest source country, overtaking the US

13.8%

United States

Down slightly from 14.5% in 2022/23

9.9%

China

Down from 11.3% in 2022/23

These three countries account for 44% of all international enrolment. Total international students in Ireland reached almost 45,000 in 2024/25 — the first time crossing that mark. Source: HEA Key Facts & Figures, 2024/25. We could not verify a full top-10 breakdown from a freely accessible dataset — HEA's own interactive dashboard has the fuller picture but isn't machine-readable, so we've shown only the figures we could confirm directly.

Career intelligence, by specialism

Real salary data with a named source for every figure — where credible Irish data doesn't exist for a role, that's stated plainly rather than filled in with a guess.

Manufacturing & Bioprocessing

48 courses

Making drug substance and drug product at scale — upstream/downstream bioprocessing, aseptic fill-finish, API and solid-dose manufacturing.

Bioprocess Technician Manufacturing Engineer Quality Assurance Officer (QA) Process Development Scientist

Real salary range

€68,000 – €115,000 (specialist to senior), €120,000–€180,000+ for Qualified Persons/Automation Leads

Contract/daily rates €550–€1,100/day for experienced engineers and QPs.

Source: Priya Life Science, "The €100K Reality Check" (2026), citing Irish biomanufacturing salary bands

Who hires this: Almac Group, Pfizer, Regeneron, AbbVie, Boston Scientific

Quality, GMP & Validation

27 courses

Ensuring products meet GMP: quality assurance/control, validation & qualification, audits, deviations and CAPA.

Quality Assurance Officer Validation Engineer GMP Compliance Specialist QA/QC Manager

Real salary range

€85,000 – €115,000 (5–10 yrs), €120,000–€180,000+ for Qualified Person (QP) / Regulatory Director (10+ yrs)

Contract rates €550–€800/day mid-level, €750–€1,100/day for QPs.

Source: Priya Life Science, "The €100K Reality Check" (2026)

Who hires this: Almac Group, Pfizer, Regeneron, AbbVie, Boston Scientific

Regulatory & Pharmacovigilance

19 courses

Getting and keeping products approved — regulatory affairs submissions, compliance, and drug-safety/pharmacovigilance.

Regulatory Affairs Officer (RAO) Pharmacovigilance Coordinator Clinical Safety Manager Regulatory Project Manager

Real salary range

€55,000 – €68,000 mid-career, up to €135,000 at senior manager level

Cross-checked independently against a second source: €50,000–€80,000 by experience.

Source: Life Science Recruitment, Salary & Market Trends Report 2026; cross-ref Morgan McKinley Ireland 2026

Who hires this: Pfizer, Regeneron, Lilly, Sanofi, Amgen

Drug Development & Discovery

12 courses

Designing and developing new medicines — formulation, medicinal chemistry, drug delivery and preformulation.

Research Scientist (Pharmaceuticals) Senior Research Associate Lead Medicinal Chemist Formulation Development Specialist

Real salary range

€55,000 – €70,000 (Formulations Scientist); €45,000–€60,000 (QC Chemist); R&D Engineer ladder €30,000 (graduate) → €130,000 (senior manager)

Medicinal Chemist: no verified Irish-specific recruiter data found — not included rather than guessed.

Source: Life Science Recruitment 2026; Morgan McKinley Ireland 2026

Who hires this: Almac Group, Bio-Medical Research

Clinical Research & Trials

3 courses

Running clinical trials to GCP — clinical operations, trial management, monitoring and clinical data.

Clinical Research Associate (CRA) Clinical Data Manager Clinical Operations Specialist Trial Monitoring Coordinator

Real salary range

€38,000–€40,000 (Junior CRA) → €45,000–€55,000 (CRA) → €55,000–€65,000 (Senior CRA) → €65,000–€75,000 (Clinical Trials Manager)

Clinical Data Manager €50,000–€65,000; Biostatistician €45,000–€60,000.

Source: Life Science Recruitment 2026, cross-validated against Morgan McKinley Ireland 2026 for the CRA band

Who hires this: ICON plc, PPD (Thermo Fisher), Parexel, Syneos Health, O4 Research

Pharmacology & Pharmacy

26 courses

Drug action and pharmacy practice — pharmacology, pharmacotherapy, dispensing and pharmacy support.

Pharmacy Technician Pharmaceutical Assistant Clinical Research Associate (CRA) Pharmacotherapy Specialist

Real salary range

HSE Staff Pharmacist: €49,485 – €79,166 across the official incremental pay scale

Community pharmacy (hourly): Supervising Pharmacist €45–€52/hr, Support Pharmacist €36–€40/hr, Pharmacy Technician €16–€23/hr. Research Pharmacologist: no reliable Irish data found — aggregator estimates disagreed by 3x and were excluded.

Source: HSE/Dept. of Health Consolidated Pay Scales (eff. 1 Aug 2025); Excel Healthcare Pharmacy Salary Guide 2026

Who hires this: Chanelle Group

Biotech & Biopharma Science

84 courses

The science behind biologics — cell/molecular biology, genetics, immunology and microbiology.

Research Scientist I Biological Researcher II Senior Biologist III Technical Director IV

Real salary range

€30,000–€45,000 (QC Analyst) → €45,000–€60,000 (Microbiologist) → €75,000–€90,000 (QC Manager)

Bioinformatics Analyst: only a 3-response aggregate found (Indeed IE, €52,003) — sample too small to treat as reliable, shown as unverified.

Source: Life Science Recruitment 2026

Who hires this: Pfizer, Regeneron, Lilly, Sanofi, Amgen

Medical Devices

13 courses

Design, regulation and manufacture of medical devices and combination products (MedTech).

Medical Device Engineer Regulatory Affairs Assistant Quality Assurance Technician Clinical Research Associate

Real salary range

Design Assurance Engineer €30,000 (grad) → €130,000 (senior manager); Regulatory Affairs (device) €55,000–€68,000, up to €135,000 senior

Quality/Supplier Quality Engineer €50,000–€80,000.

Source: Life Science Recruitment 2026; cross-ref Morgan McKinley Ireland 2026

Who hires this: Boston Scientific, Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Bausch & Lomb, Abbott Ireland Vascular Division, Creganna Medical (Now part of TE Connectivity)

General Pharma & Life Science

57 courses

Broad life-science foundations spanning several of the above areas.

Pharmaceutical Sales Representative Clinical Research Associate (CRA) Quality Assurance Specialist Biostatistician

Real salary range

Graduate entry roles: €30,000 – €38,000 across R&D, Manufacturing, Quality, Regulatory and Design Assurance tracks

Sector-wide: Manufacturing (where most Irish pharma/MedTech jobs sit) averaged €1,271/week in Q1 2026, ≈€66,000 annualised.

Source: Life Science Recruitment 2026; CSO Earnings & Labour Costs Q1 2026

Who hires this: Boston Scientific, Almac Group, Pfizer, Norbrook Laboratories (3 sites), Johnson & Johnson Vision Care

Colleges & providers

Irish institutions offering STEM and life-science programmes, with pharma/life-science-relevant course counts.

Atlantic Technological University

Galway · 72 courses

Medical Technology, Pharmaceutical & Biopharmaceutical Science

STEM & Life Science Courses in Ireland

Where Ireland's international students come from

Career intelligence, by specialism

Colleges & providers

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