About the project
Competence Center
of Cybersecurity at UPJŠ
Project code: 17R05-04-V01-00007
Project duration: January 2025 - March 2026
Total eligible expenditure: EUR 1,585,417.19 including VAT
This project is financed by the European Union from the funds of the Recovery and Resilience Plan of the Slovak Republic.
- increasing security awareness of relevant entities, including primarily public administration employees and university and high school students,
- education and training of new experts working in this area,
- research of cyber threats and identification of adequate responses to these threats,
- increasing operational security within public administration by providing expert activities by the CSIRT team.
The project creates outputs, among which we can include the preparation of a study plan for the master's degree of the applied informatics study program, one branch of which focuses on cybersecurity. Several subjects will be created or modified for this study plan.
At the same time, as an output of the project, an educational offer is being created for various target groups of public administration employees.
In the context of the project, cooperation with high schoolsis being strengthened, especially in the form of the activities of CyberTeams, their education and subsequent involvement in spreading security awareness among the general public.
As part of educational activities, new knowledge and experience in the field of CIS, as well as related areas, are being summarized. These are currently supplemented by various forms of experiential education.
The project is currently summarizing recommendations for public administration in various areas of CIS and plans are being made to implement several campaigns aimed at increasing the security awareness of public administration employees.
As part of research activities , several scientific outputs are being published in existing research areas and new possible research collaborations are being created to strengthen the research and development potential of the KC KB UPJŠ.
An equally important outcome of the project is the addition of equipment and training to the university CSIRT team and the possibility of providing expert activities for accredited CSIRT teams in the Slovak Republic for the purpose of a faster and more adequate response to cyber security incidents.
The place of implementation of the project activities is the Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice and its professional departments.
Project goals
The project will create a master's degree program in applied informatics, which will include several new or modified subjects to simultaneously meet the requirements placed on CIS specialists. This will increase the possibility of educating new specialists as well as providing higher-quality professional training.
The project will implement several activities, the primary goal of which is to increase security awareness among the general public, especially vulnerable groups such as elementary and secondary school students and seniors.
The project will strengthen the expertise capacity of CSIRT-UPJS as well as purchase equipment for solving cyber security incidents and digital forensic analysis. CSIRT-UPJS will thus be prepared to assist accredited CSIRT units in understanding the applicable legal regulations for solving security incidents, thereby increasing the ability to respond faster and more adequately to cyber security incidents.
The project will create educational materials for the training of CIS specialists in public administration. Increasing their professional level will lead to better and more adequate prevention of cyber security incidents, especially in the form of implementing security measures, as well as a faster and more adequate response to cyber security incidents.
The project will create educational materials for public administration employees. Increasing their professional level will lead to better acceptance of the security measures taken and a faster response to cyber security incidents, especially in the form of identification and provision of assistance.
By increasing the professional level of KC KB members, especially lecturers, through various types of training, the quality of the educational process for public administration employees, public school students, as well as the general public will increase. At the same time, the expertise of KC KB members providing expert activities will increase, thereby ensuring their faster and more adequate provision.
The KB Center will include professionals with diverse expertise that is essential for educational, research and operational activities. This concentration will improve the quality of the services provided and ensure their sustainability in the future.
The project plans several activities aimed at strengthening international cooperation between KC KB and foreign academic institutions, mainly in the form of internships and exchange of know-how. This cooperation can significantly improve the expertise of KC KB personnel capacities as well as provide knowledge necessary for the educational process as well as for research and expert activities.
The project plans to continue not only in international cooperation, but also in cooperation with high schools and other institutions (especially the activity of CyberTeams). This will not only spread security awareness among the general public, but also gradually build a professional community.
The project will develop research activities. This will be supported by the purchase of infrastructure and professional training of project researchers. At the same time, existing cooperation will be developed and new cooperation will be created, opening up new research opportunities. All this will help develop research activities within the KB Center.