Bournemouth University has been awarded nearly £2.3 million by the Office for Students to develop a new Cyber Competence Centre that will address regional and national cyber skills gaps.
As well as upgrading the university’s existing facilities, the investment will be used to launch a new, AI-powered Security Operations Centre of the Future (SOCOF) for students to learn how to detect and respond to realistic cyber threats.
The Security Operations Centre will give students the chance to work with industry partners such as Battle Lab, ESET and JP Morgan to ensure their learning is based on real-world needs.
Uniquely, the centre will also explore ways to support the psychological wellbeing of cyber professionals. The funding will also be used for university staff and students to run training courses for members of the public and local businesses as part of the Dorset Digital Skills Partnership, further helping to build up cyber resilience locally. These training opportunities will include skills bootcamps, employer-designed programmes and new flexible short courses.
This award recognises the strengths of Bournemouth University in the area of cyber security and enables the development of new and very specialised infrastructure. Our new centre will support not just our current and future students but also external partners and the local community, in this key area of the UK’s current industrial strategy. The university will launch the new Cyber Competence Centre in September 2026.
Contacts: Vasilis Katos, Emily Rosenorn-Lanng
Funders: OfS
Collaborators: Bournemouth University, BattleLab, ESET, JP Morgan, and others