Lviv Academy of Drones and Defense Technologies "DrDrone-2025" Held with the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine

On 25 March 2025, Ivan Franko National University of Lviv launched the second season of the DrDrone educational project. This time the initiative was expanded into the Lviv Academy of Drones and Defense Technologies, delivered by the University together with the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and supported by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, Lviv Regional Military Administration and Lviv City Council.

The academy was designed for students who want to understand modern approaches to unmanned systems, electronics, software, artificial intelligence and related defense technologies. The programme combined technical fundamentals, applied cases and a dedicated track on military drone use initiated by the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

The opening session included remarks from Acting Rector of LNU Professor Volodymyr Melnyk, Vice-Rector for Scientific and Pedagogical Work and Informatisation Vitalii Kukharskyi, and Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine for Digital Development, Digital Transformations and Digitalisation Kateryna Chernohorenko.

The speakers emphasised that university education and research must respond to security challenges, while Ukraine’s technological advantage depends on well-prepared specialists. Student interest confirmed the scale of demand: around 500 people registered for the school.

During the introductory part, participants were also briefed on the working format, communication rules, use of the educational platform and actions to take during an air alert.

The project was implemented by the Department of System Design at the Faculty of Electronics and Computer Technologies and the Centre for Marketing and Development of Ivan Franko National University of Lviv. The academy was supported by the April Volunteer Fund, Indeema Software, Tykho electronics, GlobalLogic, Sigma Software University, Eleks, SoftServe, FRDM group, Technological Forces of Ukraine, KONDOR unmanned systems battalion, AirAssist and ShadowTech Labs.

Information partners included Lviv IT Cluster, Osvita Lvivshchyny and Gal-Info. DrDrone-2025 showed that a university can be a platform where technical education, business, government and the defense sector work toward a shared goal: preparing people who can create and apply technologies important for Ukraine’s security and future recovery.

This material is based on the Lviv University publication: original LNU news item.