The University of Limerick (UL) in Ireland has teamed up with leading international technology companies to redefine computer science education.

The UL has announced a new integrated undergraduate and Master’s degree in partnership with over a dozen tech companies from Ireland and around the world, including Analog Devices, Stripe, Zalando, Intercom, Shopify, Manna Aero and more.

Source: The University of Limerick

The Immersive Software Engineering (ISE) programme at UL will attempt to meet increased global demand for developer talent with the internet economy rapidly growing.

ISE will bring the concept of “residencies,” which are similar to medical degrees, and use them as a key feature for the first time in computer science education. Just as trainee doctors apply skills that they have studied in a classroom to the real world, so will ISE students, and they’ll be doing it inside some of the world’s tech companies.

According to recent data, software engineers and computer scientists can command high salaries straight out of university, and there is significant demand for more of them, with over three quarters of tech companies in Ireland suggesting that the shortage of tech skills is losing them money.

John Collison, co-founder and president of Stripe, said: “Software engineers enjoy incredible careers solving some of the world’s most important problems in the fastest growing industries, yet we have nowhere near enough of them. Immersive Software Engineering seeks to provide a great path for more secondary students — especially girls — into technology.”

Vincent Roche, CEO of Analog Devices, Inc (ADI) said: “The global demand for developing skilled software engineers driven by the connection of physical to cyber world and big data processing is growing at an exponential rate. As we at ADI solve the most challenging real-world problems in areas such as healthcare and industrial, we have an increasing demand for these skillsets and see the need growing in coming years."

During the four years, ISE students will complete five paid residencies, each between three and six months long. During residencies, students will be a part of real, professional teams solving problems like improving access to financial services around the world, fighting the climate crisis and building next generation instrumentation for healthcare.

For more information, visit the ISE website.