Lero, the Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre for Software, brings together expert software teams from universities and institutes of technology across Ireland in a co-ordinated centre of research excellence with a strong industry focus.

"Lero is ranked second among software research centres worldwide for citations."

Lero’s research spans a wide range of subjects including software engineering, information systems and human-computer interaction in areas such as driverless cars, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, fintech, govtech, smart communities, agtech and healthtech.

"Lero partners with three of the top 10 technology companies in the world."

Hosted by University of Limerick, Lero’s academic partners include Atlantic Technological University, Dublin City University,
Dundalk Institute of Technology, Maynooth University, Munster Technological University, South East Technological University,
Technological University Shannon: Midlands Midwest, Trinity College Dublin, University College Cork, University College
Dublin, University of Galway.

"Lero researchers engage directly with more than 10,000 members of the public every year."

Lero’s overall vision is to establish Ireland as a location synonymous with high-quality software research and development, to the extent that ‘Irish software’ can enter the lexicon in the same way as ‘German automotive’ or ‘Scandinavian design’.

"Lero has introduced software and computer science programmes in the Irish education system from primary to graduate level."

Sixteen out of the top 20 global technology firms have strategic operations in Ireland. Ireland is recognised internationally as a leading location for companies in the software sector and Lero is a key pillar of that.

"Every €1 invested in Lero contributes more than €5 to the economy."

Since it was founded in 2005, Lero has become one of the best-known, and most highly regarded, software research centres in the world.

The Centre is funded under the SFI Research Centres programme, which has established a network of SFI Research Centres focusing on key research areas in Ireland.