“It feels great and incredibly significant,” he says about his win at the 2024 Pokémon Europe International Championships, which took place in London at the beginning of April. In his game, competitive Pokémon, he faced a thousand players and eventually took home the first prize in the video game category.
“Pokémon is a lot like chess. You have to understand how the other person thinks, and you need to be able to play logically. It has required a lot of hard training in my spare time to reach this level, but experiences from my studies have also helped to improve my game.”
Interested in computers and coding
Nils Dunlop is 23 years old and has been competing in Pokémon for ten years. He has always been interested in computers and programming, so when it came time to study, he chose to enroll in the Bachelor's program in Software Engineering and Management. Now he is in his first year of the Master's program in Applied Data Science.
“In Pokémon, you need to handle a lot of data in your head during a match to understand how to play optimally. I would say that I have benefited from both my Bachelor's and my studies in Applied Data Science. Preparations for matches also include several calculations of possible outcomes.”
Wanted to study a broad education
The main reason that Nils Donlop chose to enroll in the Bachelor's program in Software Engineering and Management was the program's breadth and the opportunity to learn about different types of programming.
“When I started, I didn’t know much about programming, but the program was excellent at teaching me the basics of the various languages. I also really liked that it was so practical. We got to code a lot in different projects, and that suited me well.”
In the final year of his Bachelor's, Nils Dunlop took some courses in AI. It turned out to be the right area for Nils, and he therefore decided to apply for the Master's program in Applied Data Science.
“It's a Master’s for students with various educational backgrounds. They were very good at introducing everyone to the subject at the beginning and then quickly move on to different AI methods. A year in, I feel even more that I definitely want to work with AI, preferably Data Science and AI. In the future, I would love to combine a job in AI with continued competing in Pokémon in some way.”
Next step: World championship
But next, he looks forward to the Pokémon World Championships in Hawaii in August.
“First, I have two competitions, in Stockholm in May and New Orleans in June. Then there will be a lot of training in the summer before I head to Hawaii. In 2018, I managed to come third, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it goes even better this time.”
Text: Natalija Sako
