CYENS Centre of Excellence

☀️ CYENS Summer School 2026 is almost here!

Join "AI for All!", a free summer programme designed to introduce young learners to Artificial Intelligence and Python through interactive, hands-on activities.

📅 June 22–26
⏰ 9:30–12:30
👥 Ages 15+
🎓 Free

Led by Prof. Marios Pattichis, participants will explore how AI systems process and generate images while developing practical coding skills.

Register here: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=4XAKFKCr0U6-HQTBCX_8jBPEk2Xh5UFJiO7BHcLMtWtUREhDMEE1M0tZTklEUjZNTTNNRDA0Tk5ZQi4u

This programme forms part of a global initiative by the IEEE Signal Processing Society.

🤖 CYENS Summer School 2026
AI for All!

Curious about Artificial Intelligence and how modern AI systems understand and generate images?

Join our free 5-day summer programme and explore the fundamentals of AI through hands-on experiments with Python.

🗓 June 22–26, 2026
⏰ 9:30–12:30
🎓 Free of charge
🗣 In English
👥 Ages 15+
👨‍🏫 Instructor: Prof. Marios Pattichis

Register here: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=4XAKFKCr0U6-HQTBCX_8jBPEk2Xh5UFJiO7BHcLMtWtUREhDMEE1M0tZTklEUjZNTTNNRDA0Tk5ZQi4u

Participants will learn about the modern components behind AI systems and gain practical experience designing and understanding AI models used in image processing.

This programme is part of a global initiative by the IEEE Signal Processing Society and is co-sponsored by the IEEE Cyprus Signal Processing and Engineering in Medicine and Biology Joint Chapter.

CYENS Centre of Excellence has completed the FIN-AGENT project for O***m Works Ltd, delivering an AI-powered prototype for automating invoice processing.

Developed by the CAIR research group at CYENS, FIN-AGENT aims to reduce the time spent on routine financial administration by automatically extracting key information from invoices, validating financial figures, and preparing structured outputs for accounting workflows.

The prototype supports multiple invoice formats, including PDFs, scanned documents, images, and DOCX files. It also includes Gmail-based invoice ingestion and a human-in-the-loop review interface, allowing finance staff to check and correct extracted information before it enters the accounting process.

The expected impact is a more efficient and reliable invoice-processing workflow, where staff spend less time on manual data entry and more time on validation, exception handling, and higher-value financial tasks.

The project FIN-AGENT (INNOVOUCHERS/0725/0033) was funded by the Research and Innovation Foundation, under the «INNOVATION VOUCHERS 2024» Programme and through the Recovery and Resilience Facility of the NextGenerationEU instrument.

OW Digital, Digital Tree

🚀 CYENS Centre of Excellence is hiring!

We are looking for up to two Research Assistants to join the Extended Experiences Research Group and contribute to the ViWAS – Virtual Worlds Skills Academy project, coordinated by CYENS under the Digital Europe Programme.

ViWAS aims to bridge the growing skills gap in virtual worlds, virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and extended reality (XR) by developing a future-proof training and competence ecosystem for learners, educators, professionals, and industry across Europe.

The successful candidates will join a multidisciplinary team working on Generative AI technologies, contributing to software development, experimentation, and the evaluation of AI-driven solutions. The role includes developing software prototypes, supporting the implementation of Large Language Models (LLMs) and AI tools, conducting technology assessments, and contributing to project deliverables.

This is an exciting opportunity to work at the intersection of Generative AI, immersive technologies, and virtual worlds, within a major European initiative running until 2030.

📍 Nicosia, Cyprus — Part-time
🔗 Apply here: https://cyens.org.cy/vacancy/research-assistants-viwas-project/

PainAid holds co-creative workshops with people living with dementia

As part of the PainAid project, we held co-creative workshops with people living with dementia to better understand how pain is felt, expressed, and communicated when words are not always available.

Through gentle, supportive activities involving touch, colour, movement, images, and body-based reflection, participants shared important insights into the many ways pain can be communicated beyond verbal language.

These workshops reminded us that pain in dementia is not only physical, but also deeply embodied, relational, and context-dependent. They also highlighted the importance of designing future pain assessment approaches that are more inclusive, humane, and responsive to lived experience.

We thank all participants and the teams at Στέγη Καϊμακλίου “Αρχάγγελος Μιχαήλ” Κέντρο Αποκατάστασης Άνοιας for supporting this important stage of the project.

"Overconfident and Underinformed: The AI Literacy Paradox"

Join us for an invited talk by Nicole Christodoulides.

As generative AI tools become increasingly embedded in our daily lives, an important question remains: does frequent use of AI actually translate into AI literacy?

Drawing on research conducted at Erasmus University Rotterdam, this interactive session will explore the relationship between AI literacy, prompting behaviour, trust, metacognition, and user performance. Participants will be invited to reflect on their own experiences with AI while discussing what it truly means to use these technologies effectively, critically, and responsibly.

📅 16 June 2026
🕑 14:00–15:00
📍 Events Presentation Room & Online via Microsoft Teams (https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/326831910678089?p=8F8h4f5KZtwclI3GSi)

🎙 Speaker: Nicole Christodoulides

The session will cover:

• The illusion of competence in AI use
• Findings from a quasi-experimental research study
• Understanding AI literacy in practice
• Implications for individuals and organisations

We look forward to an engaging discussion on one of the most important challenges surrounding AI adoption today.

💡 Turn your ideas into professional websites with AI.

Join the AI-Powered Landing Page Creation course at CYENS Academy and learn how to design and launch modern landing pages using AI-powered and no-code tools.

Perfect for:
✔ entrepreneurs
✔ creatives
✔ freelancers
✔ students
✔ organisations wanting a stronger online presence

📅 15 & 22 June 2026
🕣 08:30 – 12:15
👩‍🏫 Trainer: Maria Stylianou

👉 Register now: https://academy.cyens.org.cy/training/landing-pages-and-websites-with-ai/

We are excited to announce the kick-off of the Virtual Worlds Academy of Skills (ViWAS), a new European initiative under the Digital Europe Programme coordinated by Professor Fotis Liarokapis at CYENS Centre of Excellence.

Bringing together a multidisciplinary consortium from more than 16 countries, ViWAS aims to address Europe's growing shortage of advanced digital skills in virtual worlds, XR, and AI.

By leveraging simulation-based learning environments, immersive digital twins, and AI-driven personalization, the project will create a pan-European training ecosystem that connects universities, vocational providers, industry, SMEs, and public institutions.

The project officially launched on 1 May 2026, with the kick-off meeting taking place in Paris, France on 26–27 May 2026.

Through hands-on, immersive training experiences, ViWAS will support upskilling and reskilling at scale, helping Europe build the workforce needed for the future of Web 4.0 and immersive technologies.

Learn more: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/projects-details/43152860/101298981/DIGITAL?order=DESC&pageNumber=1&pageSize=100&sortBy=es_SortDate&keywords=101298981

🧠 Innovation begins with better thinking.

Join the Design Thinking & Ideation course and explore practical tools and creative methodologies that help transform ideas into actionable solutions.

Whether you work in business, education, research, technology, or the creative industries, this course offers valuable approaches for collaborative innovation and problem-solving.

📅 23–16 June 2026
👩‍🏫 Trainer: Stella Taousiani
🌐 Language: English

👉 Save your spot:
https://forms.cloud.microsoft/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=4XAKFKCr0U6-HQTBCX_8jEszKjdHzdtGrnnQJ07x65JUNEhESDJDVUxOUlVWVlozNERIVExFOFZBNS4u&route=shorturl