200 competitors, 25-plus challenges and a flight to South Korea: Robotex Cyprus hands out its 2026 awards

The competition was in June. The consequences were handed out on 16 October. The Cyprus Computer Society held the awards ceremony for Robotex Cyprus 2026 — the ninth Pancyprian Educational and Sports Robotics Competition — recognising the winners of an event that put roughly 200 robotics competitors, from school pupils through university students to adults, through more than 25 different challenges.

What the winners actually get. Two things, and neither is a trophy. First, seven private universities — NUP, EUC, UNIC, UoL, Frederick, UCLan and AUB Mediterraneo — offered scholarships to winning lyceum students. Second, several champions will travel to South Korea in December to compete at Robotex International, with travel support from the Research and Innovation Foundation. A scholarship and an international final are a materially different prize from a certificate, and they are the reason school robotics in Cyprus has stopped being a hobby club.

Who props it up. The competition runs with the Ministry of Education, Sport and Youth, the University of Cyprus, the scientific and technical chamber Etek and IET Cyprus, alongside corporate backing from XM, Neapolis, ICDL, Novatex, ZEBRA and Netinfo. The awards themselves were designed and manufactured by Robo.

The organisers' own framing. CCS president Andreas Loutsios: "In this way, we acknowledge and honour the longstanding contribution of everyone who helps develop and help make Robotex an established event in Cyprus." Nine consecutive editions is the claim behind the word established, and the Cyprus Computer Society now runs three of the island's recurring technical competitions — Robotex, WRO Cyprus and the Cyprus Cyber Security Challenge.

Why a hackathon calendar notices a school robotics prize-giving. Because this is the only part of the Cypriot tech-competition circuit with a genuine age pipeline attached — pupils compete, win a university place, and reappear a few years later in the rooms where INVESTech, Competen.CY and the BoC Fintech Hackathon are decided. December's trip to South Korea is the visible end of that pipeline; the scholarships are the part that actually determines who is still building in five years.