For Industry Partners
Partner with ISE at the IT University of Copenhagen: what a company commits, what students deliver, and how to submit a project proposal for the next semester.
Partnership Overview
Join our industry-academia collaboration that has been connecting companies with talented students since 2017. Our Industrial Software Engineering course offers your organization access to fresh perspectives, innovative solutions, and potential future talent. You can hire a student team of software developers to solve your specific challenge within your organization, at zero cost. We expect you to provide a Product Owner to direct the development project. To kick off the collaboration, submit your Project Proposal!
Download Project Proposal Template
To participate as an industry partner, please fill out and return the project proposal form to Paolo Tell (ISE Course Manager): pate@itu.dk. Download the Word template below:
Click the button to download our Word template.
Why Partner with Us?
🎯 Proven Track Record
- 7+ years of successful industry partnerships
- 120+ completed projects across diverse industries
- High satisfaction rate from returning industry partners
💡 Innovation & Fresh Perspectives
- Students bring unbiased, fresh approaches to complex problems
- Exposure to the latest technologies and methodologies
- Creative solutions from diverse student backgrounds
🎓 Talent Pipeline
- Early access to skilled, motivated students
- Evaluate potential future employees through real projects
- Build relationships with top-performing students
🚀 Business Value
- Prototype development and proof-of-concept solutions
- Cost-effective project exploration
- Enhanced company reputation in the academic community
What a team looks like
- 8-10 bachelor students as developers, with a master’s student as Scrum Master
- Each bachelor student works about 14 hours a week on the project
- An industrial agile coach supports the team with Scrum practice
- Around 16 teams run at once, each with its own company and project
- Students are trained in Scrum during the course; Scrum Masters go through a workshop and certification
Partnership Models
🏢 Project Participant
Commitment: Provide a real project challenge, or two (you can submit more than one Project). Download the Project Proposal Template above!
Benefits:
- Dedicated student team
- Iterative development using Scrum
- Get an MVP or a working prototype for your company
👨💼 Project Sponsor
Commitment: Provide monetary sponsorship to the ISE Course
Benefits:
- A sponsor booth and branding exposure
- Direct facilitated connection to the next generation of software engineers
- Enhance the company’s opportunity to attract the best talent
How sponsorship works, in full
What We are Looking For
📋 Ideal Project Characteristics
- Real business value: Genuine problems that matter to your organization
- Appropriate scope: Completable in a semester - two weeks of kickoff and eleven weeks of sprints
- Learning opportunity: Allows students to apply and learn new technologies
- Mentorship potential: Can benefit from industry professional guidance
- Innovation space: Room for creative and experimental approaches
- Shaped as an MVP: A minimum viable product the team can reach, with extension possibilities beyond it
- Few technical constraints: The fewer platforms and tools we must work inside, the more the team can build
🛠 Technology Areas
Our students work across diverse technology stacks:
- Web Development: React, Angular, Vue.js, Node.js, Django, Spring
- Mobile Development: iOS, Android, React Native, Flutter
- Cloud & DevOps: AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, Docker, Kubernetes
- Data & AI: Python, R, TensorFlow, PyTorch, data visualization
- Enterprise: .NET, Java, microservices, APIs
- Emerging Tech: IoT, GenAI, AI, machine learning/ neural network, AR/VR
Partnership Process
1. Initial Consultation (autumn, before the proposal deadline)
Timeline: Project topics are due to Paolo Tell by 29 November, using the Project Proposal Template above
Activities:
- Submit a Project Proposal Template filled out with your project idea
- Discuss project ideas and requirements
- Assess feasibility and learning objectives
- Define success criteria and deliverables
2. Project Definition (before the course starts)
Timeline: The course opens in week 5
Activities:
- Finalize project scope and requirements
- Prepare project brief and “pitch” for the students
3. Team Matching (week 6)
Timeline: The team formation event, a week after the course opens
Activities:
- Present the project to student teams at the “Match Making Event”
- Get a student team + a scrum master and an agile coach allocated
- Introduce the team to key stakeholders in your company
- Set up access and infrastructure to work with the team
- Establish a regular Scrum events meeting schedule
4. Project Execution (two weeks of kickoff, then eleven weeks of sprints)
Timeline: From team formation until week 20
Activities:
- Sprint planning and reviews with the student team, every sprint
- Regular retrospectives, progress reviews, and feedback
- Two mid-semester review sessions, in March and May
- Continuous mentorship and guidance
5. Project Completion (end of the semester)
Timeline: Projects end in week 20
Activities:
- Final project presentations at the “Celebration Event”
- Code delivery and documentation
- Project retrospective and feedback
- Evaluation of partnership success
Investment & Resources
💰 Financial Commitment
- No direct fees: The Course is funded by ITU University and our Sponsors
- Optional sponsorship: In case you want to provide financial support
⏰ Time Investment for the Product Owner
- Product Guidance: 2-4 hours per week
- Team Meetings: 1-2 hours per week
- Reviews & Feedback: 1-2 hours per sprint
- Total: Approximately 4-8 hours per week
The Product Owner takes part in all Scrum events, is reachable to the team between them, and attends the two mid-semester review sessions. Calendar invites come in due time.
🛠 Resource Provision
- Development Environment: Cloud access or development tools
- Data & APIs: Access to relevant data sources, if applicable
- Documentation: Existing system documentation, if applicable
Success Stories
🎯 Partnership Outcomes
- Many partners return with new projects
- Top students receive internship or job offers from partner companies
- Functioning prototypes developed into commercial products
Getting Started
📝 Application Process
- Initial Contact: Reach out to the Primary Contacts below
- Project Consultation: Discuss your ideas and requirements
- Proposal Submission: Submit formal project proposal
- Partnership Agreement: Finalize terms and expectations
📅 Important Deadlines
- Project proposals: due 29 November, for the semester that follows
- Course start: week 5
- Team formation event: week 6
- Projects end: week 20
📞 Next Steps
Ready to explore partnership opportunities? Submit a Project Proposal and/or contact our team:
ISE Contacts:
- Paolo Tell (ISE Course Manager): pate@itu.dk
- Stefano Vincenti (External Lecturer): vinc@itu.dk
- Elda Paja (Associate Professor): elpa@itu.dk
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is required from the Company as a Project Participant?
A: A solid project proposal with a motivating topic. A good “pitch” to be delivered during the Matchmaking event, where companies are matched student teams. Additionally, a Product Owner who will participate in all sprint planning and review meetings, they are accessible throughout the project and participates in the two mid-project reviews in March and May, as well as the final review. Calendar invites will be provided in due time.
Q: Can I get some inspiration for filling out the Project Proposal from previous projects?
A: Contact either Paolo or Stefano to get inspiration from previous projects we have run successfully in the ISE course.
Q: What intellectual property rights apply to student projects?
A: Industry partners retain rights to their data, and business concepts, and concerning Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) for the code implementations, either one of the following will apply: Intellectual Property Rights (IPR):
- The results are published under open-source licence X (name the licence, if already known, e.g., MIT licence)
- Or… the client gets all IPRs to the results.
Q: How do you ensure project quality and professionalism?
A: All projects are supervised by experienced faculty and industry coaches. Students follow professional development practices, including code reviews, testing, and documentation standards.
Q: Can we hire students after the project?
A: Yes. Many of our industry partners have successfully hired students who worked on their projects.
Q: What if the project doesn’t meet our expectations?
A: We have regular checkpoints and feedback cycles to ensure projects stay on track. Our experienced team helps navigate any challenges that arise.
Q: Do you work with international companies?
A: Yes, we welcome international partnerships. Many projects can be conducted remotely, and we have positive experiences with global collaboration.