The Cyprus Computer Society (CCS) recently successfully organised the FIRST® LEGO® League (FLL Cyprus) 2026. This year’s event, titled UNEARTHED™, focused on archaeology and was hosted at the European University Cyprus.
Taking place on Saturday, 21 March, the event attracted an impressively high number of participants from across Cyprus, including strong participation from both public and private schools, training centers and kindergartens, a relevant CSC announcement noted.
The event was addressed by the Rector of European University Cyprus, Professor Andreas Efstathiou, who also spoke in his capacity as a Member of the Board of the Research and Innovation Foundation (RIF), which supports international participation for FLL Cyprus 2026. In his address, he expressed the hope that today’s “archaeologists of the future” will uncover valuable secrets of the past through the power of robotics, research, and innovation.
As noted by CCS President Andreas Loutsios, participation interest was significantly increased this year, with nearly 400 students from kindergartens, primary schools, secondary schools, lyceums, and technical schools taking part in the event’s activities across different time slots throughout the day.
FIRST® LEGO® League is the world’s largest educational robotics competition and includes three programmes for different age categories:
- FLL Discover (festival): ages 4–6
- FLL Explore (festival): ages 6–10
- FLL Challenge (competition): ages 9–16
The winning teams of the FLL Challenge earned the right to represent Cyprus in three international FIRST® LEGO® League events in the USA, Australia, and Greece respectively, with the support of the Research and Innovation Foundation (RIF).
FLL Challenge Awards and Winning Teams:
- Team RobotHeadz from C.S. STEM Education Cyprus, coached by Dr. Periklis Cheng, won the Champion's Award, Core Values Award, and Robot Design Award. The team will participate in the FIRST® LEGO® League Asia Pacific Open Invitational in Australia (9–12 July, 2026).
- The Robot Performance Award was awarded to Team Robomak from Makarios III Technical School in Nicosia, coached by Panayiotis Englezakis. The team will participate in the FIRST® Championship in Houston, USA (29 April – 2 May, 2026).
- The Innovation Project Award was awarded to Team PolemiRaiders from Polemi Gymnasium-Lyceum, coached by Georgios Kyprianou, and the team will participate in the FIRST® LEGO® League International Open in Corinth, Greece (8–11 May, 2026).
- The Motivation Award was awarded to Team Hephaestus Sparks from Candela Robotic School, coached by Mustafa Kemal Ambar.
The FIRST® LEGO® League Cyprus 2026 was organised by CCS in collaboration with Eduact and IET Cyprus, under the auspices of the Ministry of Education, Sport and Youth. The event was hosted by European University Cyprus, with XM as Tech Partner and the support of Amdocs.
Parallel activities on terrestrial and underwater archaeology were offered by the Department of Antiquities (Deputy Ministry of Culture), the Cyprus Institute, CVAR Museum, and CMMI – Cyprus Marine and Maritime Institute. The event was also supported by Robo.com.cy, O3 – Out of the Ordinary and ICDL.
For more information, visit CSC's websites and social media:
- FLL Cyprus photos and results: www.firstlegoleague.org.cy
- Cyprus Computer Society activities and competitions: www.ccs.org.cy
- Upcoming robotics competition: Robotex: www.robotex.org.cy
