The Students
A cohort companies compete for
ISE takes a small, highly selective intake each year and teaches them to build. By their first residency, partner engineering teams describe them as performing well beyond their years.
Selective by design
A small intake, chosen for how they build
Places are limited and demand is high. Students are selected for genuine ability and motivation, not points alone, and the cohort is kept deliberately small so every student takes on real responsibility early.
A deliberately small cohort
Small numbers mean real projects, close mentoring and genuine ownership from the first weeks.
Chosen on ability
Selected for how candidates actually think and build, and for their drive to make things.
Diverse and supported
€10,000 EDI scholarships and a supportive studio culture help widen who gets to take part.
Meet the cohort
Real students, real projects
Built from day one
Studio to residency
Selected on substance
Chosen for how they build
Ready for industry
Beyond their years
How they learn
Learning by doing, from week one
No lecture-hall-only terms. Students learn in studios, on real projects, assessed continuously, then spend half the degree in paid company residencies.
Studio-based
Small teams working in a studio, closer to a real engineering floor than a classroom.
Project-driven
Every module is anchored in building something real, not just sitting exams.
Continuously assessed
Progress is measured through the work itself, week after week.
What partners say
Beyond their years
Residency partners consistently report ISE students contributing like engineers with far more experience, shipping real work inside their teams.
Student stories
Real projects, in their words
When I first arrived in Ireland, I couldn't speak English. A few years later, I am graduating with first-class honours through a course that completely changed the direction of my career.
I was the only one in my school year of 300 who went to UL. I feel so proud of the leap I took, and who I've become.
I'm adding 'researcher' to the list of things I never thought I'd achieve when I started ISE.
I completed four residencies at a diverse range of companies, which is my favourite aspect of the course. It helped me develop both as a programmer and a team member.
The programme gave me exactly what I was looking for: the opportunity to learn by building, solve real engineering problems alongside industry, and graduate ready to make an impact from day one.
We were taught the way students want to be taught: through assignments instead of big exams, with the freedom to build alongside companies and bring what we learned back to class.
Where they go
A master's, and a head start
In four years students graduate with a master's (MSc), or a BSc if they exit after three years, plus a portfolio of real work and a network built across multiple residencies.
Think you could be one of them?
Applications for 2027 are open through the CAO with code LM173.
Immersive Software Engineering, University of Limerick. A radically practical computer science degree.