Queen's University Belfast is hosting Northern Ireland's tranche of the UK Government-backed CyberFirst Advanced programme this week, providing 16–17-year-olds with practical cyber security training supported by the National Cyber Security Centre and QinetiQ.

Part of a nationwide initiative involving 300 students at 11 locations across the UK, the summer school focuses on cyber security alongside elements of AI and data-driven technologies.

Participants are receiving hands-on experience in encryption, digital forensics and cyber-investigation, are hearing from industry specialists, and are tackling real-world tasks such as open-source intelligence gathering and penetration testing.

Queen's is a UK Government-appointed Academic Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security Education and currently holds a 'Gold' award for its work to enhance cyber security awareness across teaching, university operations and the wider community. This week's activity forms part of the university's public outreach.

The university's Centre for Secure Information Technologies (CSIT) is also the UK's official Innovation & Knowledge Centre for cyber security and, separately, an Academic Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security Research.

Students taking part include pupils from St Patrick's College Dungannon; St Catherine's College Armagh; Ballyclare High School; St Patrick's High School Keady; and, in Belfast, St Dominic's Grammar; Newtownabbey Community College; Victoria College; Ashfield High School; and Royal Belfast Academic Institution. Dr Sandra Scott-Hayward, Senior Lecturer at CSIT and the Queen's lead for the summer school, said: "We're delighted to bring these enthusiastic young people to Queen's to participate in a nationwide cyber security training course and competition. Alongside the course, they have a wonderful opportunity to hear from our CSIT staff and students and local cyber security industry experts to learn more about careers in cyber security.

"We hope that this will inspire them towards further studies and future careers in this exciting area."

The 'CyberFirst Advanced' course is being delivered by UK defence company QinetiQ in partnership with the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC).

Chris Ensor, the NCSC's Deputy Director for National Resilience Capabilities said: "This partnership with industry and academia marks another important step in expanding access to high-quality, cyber security education, benefiting even more students across the UK.

"Inspiring the next generation of cyber talent is vital to the UK's digital future, and we look forward to the continued broadening of access to these resources."

James Willis, Chief Executive Officer, QinetiQ UK Intelligence, added: "As demand for cyber security expertise continues to grow, initiatives such as CyberFirst play an important role in building a diverse pipeline of talent and strengthening the UK's future cyber resilience.

"Our cyber experts have firsthand experience of protecting a range of partners against complex threats across the globe and so understand just how important it is to inspire future generations into the industry."

CSIT at Queen's sits within Momentum One Zero, a £70M investment as part of the Belfast Region City Deal. Queen's is leading on this City Deal project to create a digital powerhouse in the Titanic area of Belfast, where a major building expansion is currently underway.

Momentum One Zero is bringing together experts in digital transformation and data innovation from industry, business and academia to transform the local health, agrifood and cyber security sectors for the digital age.