Getting Started

Your first challenge will be finding your way to the university to attend orientation. Be aware that DCU has 3 academic campuses, and that School of Computing activities (including orientation) are largely on the Glasnevin Campus. Directions to DCU and Campus maps can be found here.

In the week before the start of semester, DCU provides a series of activities, information sessions and other Ignite activities designed to help you familiarise yourself with how the university operates and provides you with information to start university life. You can visit the CAO Offers Hub for general orientation information. It is really important that you attend orientation.

First year undergraduate Orientation starts online on the week of Monday, 2nd September. On-campus activities for Orientation start on the week of Monday, 9th September.

Classes start the week of Monday, 16th September for first year students. 

To assist you with your transition to University, Student Support and Development at DCU  have designed a series of 8 short online courses called ‘Discover DCU’. To access these courses, simply log onto loop.dcu.ie with the username and password that has been supplied to you in your offer letter. If you have any difficulty accessing Discover DCU, please email student.support@dcu.ie or call the 1st Year Student Advice Hotline at (01) 700 7165.

Discover DCU is an interactive resource and you can get started on it right away, before you come to Orientation. It is full of important information, helpful tips and advice during this pre-orientation phase, as well as academic and study skills throughout your 1st year journey.

You are studying on one of the following programmes, which share a common first year:

• BEng in Mechatronic Engineering (ME1), DC193
• BEng in Electronic and Computer Engineering (ECE1), DC190
• BEng in Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering (CAM1), DC195
• BEng in Biomedical Engineering (BMED1), DC197
• BEng Common Entry into Engineering (CE1), DC200
• BEng in Mechanical and Sustainability Engineering (SSE1), DC194

The abbreviation of each programme is given in brackets; 1 means that you are in Year 1. The School of Electronic Engineering and the School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering in the Faculty of Engineering and Computing at DCU have responsibility for all of the above courses.
 

So that you know what is going on, and we can help you if your experience is less than smooth, it is important that you are proactive in taking in communications from the University i.e. read correspondence which is sent to you, go to meetings when invited. Formal and group contact is usually electronic (via email, your portal page, and Loop) but personal interactions are also key (with lecturers, programme chairs, technical and professional support staff).

The DCU Academic Calendar lists all major events during a given academic year such as dates for exams, reading week and breaks. You can view the academic calendar for 2024/25 on the DCU website here. 

The student timetable is available here.

Following this link choose ‘Class Timetable’, then select the abbreviation of your programme (for example CE for the Common Entry into Engineering, DC200) and year 1, weeks 1-10, and ‘Day’, then ‘Click here to Retrieve the Report’. This link is also available from your Portal Page, details of which you will receive at registration. Please note that timetables may change during the first few weeks of the semester and it is advisable to check your portal regularly. After the first weeks, changes will usually be notified by e-mail. Please note that although most Year 1 modules are common between all engineering programmes, there may be some differences in the timetables.

Overview of buildings in DCU where classrooms are located:

• C/CA Henry Grattan Building
• H School of Nursing
• L McNulty Building (School of Computing)
• N Marconi Building (Physics, Block 2)
• Q Business School
• S Stokes Building
• SA Stokes Building Extension
• T Larkin Lecture Theatre
• X The Lonsdale Building (Science)

The DCU Maths Learning Centre is a free service that provides informal, additional support with maths to DCU students in a relaxed environment. It cannot replace lectures and tutorials but it can help you study more effectively and keep up-to-date with your exercises. The Centre works to ensure they have tutors with knowledge of our courses on hand at specific times where there are gaps in your timetable. We recommend students use this service even if you do not find maths difficult. It is a worthwhile service for all students regardless of maths level. More details can be found here.

You can find all printing locations on campus here.

You will need to get a scientific calculator (note that if your calculator is programmable you will not be allowed to use it at the exams), lab notebook(s), and other writing items. Each module and lecturer has different requirements. The lecturers in charge of coordinating the modules will present any specific requirements to you during their lectures/practicals/tutorials. For some modules you will need to purchase a text book (available from the campus bookshop), and/or access codes for software packages.

It is not a requirement to have a personal laptop as both Engineering Schools have their own computer labs and all the necessary applications are installed on the computers in these labs. If you do intend to purchase a personal laptop we strongly encourage you to purchase a Windows machine as opposed to a Mac product. There are specific softwares that you require as part of your course that will only run appropriately on Windows machines. Experience has shown these software packages do not run appropriately on Virtual Machines or dual boot systems. No technical support will be provided for installations on non Windows systems.

Students are entitled to an educational discount on personal purchases of products through the HEAnet web store. Click on 'See all Offers', choose DCU and verify whether you are staff or student by authenticating with your DCU username and password in the pop up window. If you are purchasing a laptop we do recommend two different specs of laptop and your choice should depend on the type of applications you plan to use. For example, some of you will need a laptop for running some specialised engineering software used on the courses. Laptop for running specialised engineering software applications (Core i7 Processor, 32GB RAM. 512GB SSD, 4GB Nvidia Quatro Graphics). Laptop for general use (Core i5 Processor, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD, onboard graphics).

Each year you will study several subjects (called modules). Each module has its own weighting, called credits, indicative of the total amount of time it is estimated you will need to spend on it to reach the learning outcomes. A 5-credit module typically requires 125 hours of work, some of which is timetabled, most of which is up to you (independent learning time).

In the First Year of your programme, you are required to complete 60 credits worth of modules, corresponding to about 45-50 hrs/week. Engineering programmes are full time. In Year 1, all modules are core modules, meaning they are compulsory (you must register for all of them). Please check your portal page to ensure that you have registered correctly. It is the responsibility of the student to correctly

register for all modules and any inaccuracies should be discussed with registry immediately.