Lancaster University secures £4m to develop cyber security training facilities

Lancaster University has secured a £4m grant to invest in developing its computer science and cyber security teaching facilities.

New facilities, supported by a grant from the Office for Students (OfS), will be built as a central part of Lancaster’s flagship Data Cyber Quarter.

The new development will consist of eight specialist laboratories and a semi-immersive decision theatre, and the university’s InfoLab building will also be upgraded.

This investment will create one of the largest educational facilities of this type in the country and will support education offerings in underpinning technologies through BSc degrees in Computer Science, Cyber Security and Data Science, Masters courses in Data Science and Cyber Security, a Cyber Leaders Executive MBA, and professional training and reskilling.

Prof Andy Schofield, vice chancellor, said: "This addition to the Data Cyber Quarter will provide us with the cutting-edge training facilities needed to continue our journey as one of the leading UK institutions for cyber security teaching and research – as well as providing opportunities to develop exciting new partnerships with external organisations co-locating on site.

“We are very grateful to the OfS for this new funding that will transform our educational capacity for cyber security and the subjects that underpin this critical domain. This will help us deliver the talent pipeline needed to support the unprecedented growth in regional and national demand for experts in this field.”

The new facilities will feature highly customisable physical and digital laboratory environments, and a semi-immersive Decision Theatre which will enable students, tutors, researchers, policy makers and engineers to explore complex problems using on-screen data visualisations, with real-time updates from cyber and physical systems.

Prof Nigel Davies, head of the School of Computing and Communications, added: “Computer science and cyber security are thriving at Lancaster and this investment will help support continued growth in these crucial areas, while enabling us to further enhance the student experience.”

The plans support the launch of Security and Protection Science at Lancaster, a major new £19m initiative to boost the University’s teaching and research capabilities around cyber security including recruitment of over 30 new academics across a variety of disciplines to focus on digital threats and support major national cyber security initiatives in the North West.

Design work for the new facilities is already underway, with all work set to be completed by November 2023.