On March 25, 2025, a significant milestone was achieved with the grand opening of the new Cybersecurity and Information Protection Laboratory, strategically housed within the University’s main building. This state-of-the-art facility was inaugurated with the enthusiastic participation of University leadership, the esteemed faculty of the Cybersecurity Department from the Faculty of Applied Mathematics and Informatics, and the generous support of industry-leading partners including Cisco, Ajax Systems, RangeForce, Huawei, SoftServe, Business Security Center, 501 Company, and entrepreneur Mykola Shcherbyna.
This pivotal laboratory will serve as a dynamic hub for advancing cybersecurity education and research. It will empower students and researchers to master modern information protection methods and tools, while driving innovation through fundamental and applied research, and cutting-edge scientific and technical developments. The Laboratory will be instrumental in facilitating state-funded projects, collaborative research initiatives, and securing prestigious international grants.
Equipped with a comprehensive suite of educational resources, specialized technical equipment, advanced computing infrastructure, and other vital resources, the laboratory provides an unparalleled learning environment. Students, graduate students, and researchers will benefit from exceptional facilities for lectures, hands-on laboratory work, practical training, and engaging scientific seminars and conferences. This investment ensures access to a world-class material and technical foundation, fostering a vibrant ecosystem for academic excellence, scientific discovery, and impactful research in cybersecurity and information protection.
The acting Rector of Lviv University, Academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Professor Volodymyr Melnyk, addressed the attendees with welcoming remarks on the occasion of the laboratory’s opening. First and foremost, Volodymyr Petrovych thanked everyone who contributed to the furnishing and opening of the educational laboratory and expressed his conviction that the realization of such ambitious ideas will contribute to the active development not only of Lviv University, but also of the individuality of each student. ‘Lviv University’s cooperation with leading companies of Ukraine and the world aims, above all, to create intellectually rich spaces where students, with the help of professors, acquire the appropriate practical and theoretical skills. This is extremely necessary, in particular, for the development of the “Cybersecurity” educational program,’ Volodymyr Melnyk stated.
Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs and Informatization Vitaliy Kukharskyy also delivered welcoming remarks at the laboratory’s opening. ‘We are opening another laboratory at Lviv University during a difficult time for the country. This is a sign of our resilience, it demonstrates that we can withstand global challenges. The field of cybersecurity is currently in high demand in Ukraine, and therefore the opening of such an educational laboratory for students is important,’ Vitaliy Mykhailovych noted, and thanked everyone who contributed to the furnishing and opening of the laboratory.
The Dean of the Faculty of Applied Mathematics and Informatics, Ivan Dyyak, expressed sincere gratitude to all partners and sponsors who helped to create this modern and innovative educational space. ‘Today, we are opening the Cybersecurity and Information Protection Laboratory, which, thanks to our sponsors, will create broad opportunities not only for students, but also for teachers, who will make every effort to provide students with the appropriate level of knowledge and skills in countering global cyber threats,’ Ivan Dyak emphasized.
SoftServe Co-founder and Board Member Taras Kytsmei joined his colleagues in offering welcoming remarks, noting the pleasure of being at his alma mater. ‘SoftServe closely collaborates with Lviv University in the field of cybersecurity: not only in ensuring a high-quality educational process, but also in protecting our company. This is a kind of synergy that points us in the right direction. And such synergy should exist throughout the industry, among all companies,’ Taras Kytsmey emphasized.
Andriy Marynyak, the owner and head of the company “Business Security Center” also offered welcoming remarks. ‘The concept of cybersecurity is a logical consequence of the development of civilization. Just as in all ages people had to protect their property, so now we must protect our digital space,’ Andriy Marynyak noted, expressing gratitude to the company “Ajax,” emphasizing its Ukrainian origin.
Mykola Shcherbyna, a private entrepreneur and chairman of the audit commission of the public association “Karpatia,” addressing those present, remarked: ‘Technical information protection is an extremely important and necessary branch of the specialty “Cybersecurity,” as it involves protecting information from adversaries, from technical reconnaissance means, etc. Therefore, it was important to create stands for demonstrating the technologies of protection systems.’ He drew the attention of all present to the stands where video surveillance and security and fire alarm systems were placed, as well as technical reconnaissance stands, which he helped to equip.
Petro Venherskyy, the Head of the Department of Cybersecurity, emphasized the importance of the newly created laboratory for the development of bachelor’s and master’s level educational programs. ‘At the beginning of the creation of our educational program, many skeptics did not believe that such a technical specialty could take root and develop in a classical university. However, during meetings within the international conferences we held, we demonstrated our material and technical capabilities to our colleagues from technical universities, and they were surprised by the level of equipment in the laboratory,’ Petro Serhiiovych noted.
Lyubomyr Parhuts, a lecturer in the course “Technical Means of Information Protection” and a professor at the Department of Cybersecurity, joined in the welcoming remarks, emphasizing: ‘Cybersecurity is one of the most promising and important specialties, needed by our students and our country in general. It is clear that in our time, the outcome of a war will depend, among other things, on the level of data protection in cyberspace, therefore the opening of such a laboratory will increase not only the knowledge of students, but also raise the defense capability of our country.’
Marian Kyryk, a lecturer in the course “Computer Network Security” and a professor at the Department of Cybersecurity, summarizing, stated: ‘This laboratory is most needed by students. When a student starts working with real equipment that they later encounter in the industry, when they come to a new workplace, this is much more important than the experience of remote theoretical communication and the use of virtual computer simulators. Therefore, our laboratory will be further equipped, because technical protection, network, information, and cybersecurity are extremely necessary and important for our country today.’
During the ceremony, gratitude was also expressed by the students, who will have excellent opportunities to practically study the physical and theoretical foundations of cybersecurity and information protection technologies in the new modern laboratory of our University.
The Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs and Informatization Vitaliy Kukharskyy and one of the SoftServe managers, Taras Kytsmei, were invited to symbolically cut the ribbon and officially open the laboratory. To commemorate this solemn day, all participants of this event, together with the students, took a group photo.
