Establishment of St Andrews Software Service (SASS)

Description of impact

Establishment of student consultancy service, initially for Computer Science students.

Who is affected

Computer Science students
St Andrews Innovation
Internal clients
External clients

Narrative

Tim Storer (SICSA, GUSS, University of Glasgow) and Kirsty Ross had extensive discussions around the concept of a student-led software service. This would enable students to get paid consultancy experience, whilst enabling the completion of projects that didn't meet the threshold of academic research, but were still valuable projects. This led to further discussions with the Head of School, Director of the Careers Service, lead for the Research Software Service, Vice Dean for Digital, and St Andrews Innovation. The response was overwhelmingly positive. A budget code for the project was organised (to receive income and pay students) and the first contract with Grand Bequest was signed on 27 August 2025, with the first student began work shortly afterwards. Future work will be around the logistics of running such a service, navigating University systems, and establishing an evaluation framework to investigate the impact of such experiences on the students and clients alike, in collaboration with colleagues from the Business School and Computer Science. It has also been included on applications to the Tay City deal in collaboration with Fife College.

Impact status	Open
Impact date	28 Aug 2025
Category of impact	Economic, Commercial Impact, Technology, Educational Impact (Beyond St Andrews)
Impact level	Planning or developing - early stage