You’ll apply through the CAO for a BSc in Immersive Software Engineering, and you will technically be able to leave in 3 years with that BSc (Hons). ISE is designed to be a 4-year integrated MSc. We believe most students will complete the four years and leave with a full MSc.

There is no part time option. ISE is designed to be intensive and while we understand part time options are attractive, we really think our goals in designing ISE are only going to be met with a full time option.  

Yes!

You can do up to five residencies in up to five different companies.

Yes, all partners are very committed to ISE’s vision. Every residency has a set of learning outcomes associated with them, and when you are on your residency, we will be working with you and with the company to make sure you are learning, say, user interaction on the user interaction residency. Ensuring you and the company are delighted with the experience will be our key concern. That doesn’t mean you won’t work hard. You will. But we promise the work will be rewarding, and we will want to learn from you when you return to the ISE learning space on UL’s beautiful campus.

In general, you do, though some companies we partner with do have accommodation options as well. Some residencies can also be remote, as many companies now offer that as an option. Our preference is that you learn with colleagues in their offices.

Yes. We don’t want you to be limited by your ability to pay. Our partner companies are generously sponsoring scholarships and other supports for you. These will be available to qualifying students.

The entry requirements for the 2023 class was 676 points. Made up from the combined points from the Leaving Cert (625 points) and the Portfolio submission (300 points).

Please note that the new Entrance Submission for 2024 applicants is worth a maximum of 200 points.

Yes – we’re hiring! We are hiring a new team for this program, across teaching, research, and support roles. We offer a competitive salary, a generous built-in research start-up package, research-active colleagues who care about transforming computer science education, and massive autonomy over vast areas of an innovative new venture. You’ll have instant impact, and no traditional exam grading. Get in touch with one of the ISE team we’d love to talk.

Here you find information about the ISE vision, the UL campus and life in Limerick:

ISE-UL-Limerick-Overview

There is no hard and fast definition, but generally speaking software engineers are involved in the full development lifecycle, not just the programming aspect of computer science. So while, yes, you will need to learn how to program, software engineers look at everything from requirements gathering, to design, customer interactions, technical stack decisions, development, testing, and hand-over to the customer. To do software engineering really well, you have to be able to think critically about systems, and we’ll teach you how to do that. 

We achieve this by basically taking your summers away, and by making the course itself more intense. When on your residency placements (two of which take place over the summer months), you will become an employee of the company and work regular office hours, as determined by them. You can also expect to be in the ISE learning spaces from 9 to 5, Monday to Friday.  We are going to treat you like junior professionals. More responsibility, more focus, more intensity, but a quicker and more impactful outcome for you. Also we’ll have swag. Really good swag.

There are opportunities to work abroad. It depends on which companies you choose, and where they are located. For example, one of our residency partners now offers placements in London. Several of our students have gone abroad for a portion of their Residency Placements.

No, that is not an option. You need to start from 1st year, with an application through the CAO.

It is a requirement from the government that this course include a bachelor’s degree en route to the master’s, but this does not lengthen the process in any way.

All of UL’s Computer Science courses are amazing. Each will change your life in different ways. We made this handy-dandy comparison chart to make the differences a little clearer. Check out the Department of Computer Science and Information Systems site for more detail on who you’ll learn from.

We have more answers. Please contact the ISE team for further information.