Surfshark launches the Cybersecurity Advocacy Fund, offering up to €100,000 in annual distributed funding to university students, researchers, and anyone currently involved in academia working on selected cybersecurity awareness initiatives. The first submission cycle opens in September 2026.
Cybersecurity threats are evolving faster than the public can keep up with. People encounter phishing attempts, sophisticated scams, data leaks, and privacy violations daily, often without recognizing them. The gap between the threats that exist and what people understand about them continues to widen.
“The Cybersecurity Advocacy Fund is an investment in expertise that sits outside our own walls. Online scams have become one of the most widespread threats people face, and academic research and creative thinking are well placed to examine why they keep working,” says Gabriele Sinkeviciute, Head of Product at Surfshark.
”We supported one such project already: ‘Bot or Not?‘, built by interactive design students at Malmö University, which asked people to spot bot-written comments in a social media feed. It helped identify the specific emotions and triggers that lead people to overlook the red flags. Those findings are a perfect example of the unique insights we can gain by looking at digital safety from different angles. We want to fund more projects like this, which is why the fund is open to students and academics from any discipline whose perspective can help make the digital world safer,” Sinkeviciute adds.
Who the Cybersecurity Advocacy Fund will benefit
The fund provides financial support and direct collaboration with Surfshark’s security experts, with the aim of moving academic ideas into real-world use. Beyond funding, selected initiatives gain technical guidance, industry insights, and cybersecurity knowledge throughout development and implementation.
Who can apply and when
Applicants must be actively enrolled university students, employed university faculty such as professors or researchers, or representatives of an officially recognized university group or organization.
The fund operates in two cycles each year. September submissions are followed by an October selection period; February submissions are followed by a March selection period. Submissions remain open for the full month. Selected initiatives are contacted and supported over the following months. Pitches are accepted by email in English only.
What the fund supports
Three categories are eligible: creative advocacy, including art installations, campaigns, or interactive concepts that make digital threats tangible for wider audiences; academic research, including papers and studies on cybersecurity risks and how people respond to them; and technological ideas, including prototypes, frameworks, tools, or early-stage innovations that Surfshark experts can help develop or refine.
For the 2026 cycles, Surfshark is placing particular interest in projects addressing scams: both scam awareness and anti-scam protection.
How submissions are assessed
Several Surfshark experts review each submission against four criteria: relevance to cybersecurity awareness and digital threats; clarity of the proposal, including how it works and who it is for; originality of the approach; and potential impact, measured by how many people could benefit and how meaningful that benefit could be.
Full terms and conditions, including eligibility requirements and program details, are available before submission. Projects can be pitched at [email protected].
Please find more information here: https://surfshark.com/cybersecurity-advocacy-fund
