diff --git a/.github/workflows/tests.yml b/.github/workflows/tests.yml
index c1f2b1e6a6..71dd6894a0 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/tests.yml
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ on:
 jobs:
   unit-tests:
     name: unit tests
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
     timeout-minutes: 1
     #strategy:
     #  fail-fast: false
@@ -21,24 +21,32 @@ jobs:
     #    run: [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14]
     steps:
     - uses: actions/checkout@v4
-    - uses: actions/setup-python@v5
-      with:
-        cache: 'pip'
-        python-version: '3.11'
-    - run: pip install -e .[testing,docs]
-    - run: scons -j$(nproc)
-    - run: pytest -n logical --durations=0
+    - name: setup python
+      run: |
+        curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh
+        uv venv
+        # TODO: remove setuptools once https://github.com/cython/cython/issues/5751 is fixed
+        uv pip install -e .[testing,docs] setuptools
+    - run: uv run scons -j$(nproc)
+    - run: uv run pytest --durations=0
 
   static-analysis:
     name: static analysis
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
     timeout-minutes: 1
     steps:
     - uses: actions/checkout@v4
-    - uses: actions/setup-python@v5
-      with:
-        cache: 'pip'
-        python-version: '3.11'
     - run: sudo apt install --no-install-recommends -y cppcheck
-    - run: pip install -e .
-    - uses: pre-commit/action@v3.0.1
+    - name: setup python
+      run: |
+        curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh
+        uv venv
+        uv pip install -e . pre-commit
+    - name: cache pre-commit environments
+      uses: actions/cache@v4
+      with:
+        path: ~/.cache/pre-commit
+        key: ${{ runner.os }}-pre-commit-${{ hashFiles('.pre-commit-config.yaml') }}
+        restore-keys: |
+          ${{ runner.os }}-pre-commit-
+    - run: uv run pre-commit run --all