STUDENTS at Bournemouth University could receive £3,000 a year and a paid placement with multinational engineering company Siemens.

The university is one of 17 involved with the company’s Digital Academy, intended to discover the next generation of engineering and tech talent.

The academy will pay selected students £3,000 a year from their second year of university and provide paid summer placements with a Siemens business for up to 12 weeks at a time throughout their studies.

At the end of their degree, they will be given the chance to join Siemens’ Graduate Scheme.

The company – which employs around 500 people at its Siemens Mobility and Traffic Solutions site in Poole – says it wants to give undergraduates a chance to put what they learn at university into real world use.

Six students from electrical and electronic engineering (EEE) and computer science departments at the 17 universities have been selected to pilot the programme this summer.

Brian Holliday, Siemens Digital Industries managing director, said: “The Digital Academy is another ground-breaking example of how Siemens and our higher education partners are working together to encourage young people to pursue careers in engineering and technology.

“This programme gives undergraduates applied and up-to-date experience to bolster their academic learning.

“By strengthening links between business and our world-leading universities, we can inspire and nurture talent to support the UK’s leading role in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.”

The first group of undergraduates were selected from the inaugural Sir William Siemens Challenge, a two-day hackathon-style event held at the University of Sheffield which involved 84 promising engineering students from partner universities.

The challenge, dubbed Mindsphere Live, saw students put into 12 multidisciplinary teams and asked to invent a unique device powered by data.

Applications for the new Digital Academy cohort are now being accepted from Bournemouth University and the other institutions involved.

Details are at siemens.co.uk/digitalacademy