For the first time in Ukraine, the nationwide FIRST Tech Challenge competition will take place with the support of the Charitable Foundation of the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE Foundation) and the STEM Talent Fund. The competition is part of an international team-based robotics format for students in grades 7–11. Winning teams will represent Ukraine at the global stage.
The project “All-Ukrainian Stage of the FIRST Tech Challenge Competition” is implemented by the NGO “Educational Horizons”, which became a winner of the Da Vinci Ukraine grant program. The program is implemented by KSE Foundation with financial support from the STEM Talent Fund.
The goal of the Da Vinci Ukraine program is to develop the Olympiad and STEM movement in Ukraine by supporting initiatives that prepare children for participation in national and international Olympiads and competitions, foster deep scientific and engineering thinking, and create long-term talent development pathways.
“We are working to build a sustainable ecosystem for preparing talented children for Olympiads and complex STEM challenges — through collaboration with mentors, teams, and educational initiatives. The value of this project lies in the opportunity for Ukrainian students to deeply engage in engineering and science, develop systems thinking, and gain hands-on preparation for high-level competitions, which is a crucial stage in their long-term development trajectory,”
said Maryna Borysenko, Director of Programs and Implementation at KSE Foundation.
As part of the project, the NGO “Educational Horizons” engaged 7 teams from different regions of Ukraine to participate in the national stage of the competition. Each team consists of an average of 10 students and 2 mentors. In total, the initiative reached approximately 70 students and 14 mentors.
With the support of the Da Vinci Ukraine grant program, the organization received over UAH 1 million to purchase essential equipment. Teams based at various educational institutions received robotics construction kits and work collaboratively, developing diverse roles and competencies.
In particular, students are involved in robot design and programming (using Java), 3D modeling and 3D printing, maintaining engineering documentation, creating team design and branding, as well as developing photo and video production skills.
As part of the initiative, mentor training sessions and three friendly training competitions for teams have already taken place. In February 2026, all teams will participate in the national FIRST Tech Challenge competition, where winners will be selected to represent Ukraine at the international stage.