Cyber-Centric Multidisciplinary Security Workforce Development

该项目在阿肯色州的旗舰大学阿肯色大学设立了网络军团服务奖学金（SFS）项目，旨在招募、指导、教育和培训网络安全关键领域的学生。来自多个学科的本科生、硕士和博士水平的学生将参加该计划。参与这项工作的三个主要部门是计算机科学与计算机工程、电气工程和工业工程。利用校园现有的安全研究和教育资源，拟议的SFS计划将为学生学者提供网络安全、交通安全和关键基础设施安全等以网络为中心的多学科安全培训。这些领域都有一个成熟的研究中心。这些中心的工作人员将与学生群体密切合作，培训和监督他们的教育。这些团队还将有机会在参与研究中心进行的以网络为中心的前沿跨学科安全项目中进行研究。此外，这项努力将寻求与西北阿肯色州社区学院（NWACC）建立强有力的合作伙伴关系，为在NWACC学习的学生提供从学士学位到相关领域博士学位的高级学位。在整个项目中，所有参与的学生都将获得在包括情报机构在内的联邦机构实习的机会。一旦完成，这一努力将被视为通过培养具有全球竞争力的以网络为中心的安全劳动力来提高我国的网络防御能力。阿肯色大学是国土安全部/国家安全局网络防御研究学术卓越中心，该中心由阿肯色安全研究与教育研究所（ASCENT）领导，该研究所的建立具有跨领域的研究和教育重点。由于该项目的重点是以网络为中心的安全教育，每位学生学者将被要求学习12小时（四门课程）的网络安全课程，包括一门必修课。将开发一个在线背景系列研讨会，为非计算机学生学习公共课程做准备。在网络领域有足够知识的非计算机专业学生将被允许用自己领域的安全相关课程代替一门网络安全课程。每年夏天，政府机构将为所有学生提供实习机会，以使他们具备在这些机构工作的实际经验，并允许这些机构对这些学生进行培训和评估，以便在他们毕业后安置。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project establishes the CyberCorps Scholarship for Service (SFS) program at the University of Arkansas, the flagship university in the State of Arkansas, with the goal to recruit, mentor, educate, and train students in the critical field of cybersecurity. Students from multiple disciplines at the undergraduate, MS and PhD levels will participate in the program. The three major departments that participate in this effort are Computer Science and Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, and Industrial Engineering. Leveraging the existing security research and education resources on campus, the proposed SFS program will provide the student scholars with cyber-centric multidisciplinary security training across cybersecurity, transportation security and critical infrastructure security. Each of these areas has an established research center. Personnel of these centers will work closely with student cohorts in training and supervising their education. These cohorts will also have the opportunity to carry out research in cutting-edge cyber-centric interdisciplinary security projects that are being conducted at the participating research centers. Furthermore, this endeavor will pursue a strong partnership with the Northwest Arkansas Community College (NWACC) by developing pathways for students studying at NWACC to pursue advanced degrees starting with a BS and leading up to a PhD in related areas. Throughout the program, all participating students will get internship opportunities at federal agencies including the intelligence community. When completed, this endeavor is deemed to increase our nation's cyber defense capability by producing a globally competitive cyber-centric security workforce. The University of Arkansas is a DHS/NSA Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Research and this SFS effort is led by the Arkansas Security Research and Education Institute (ASCENT), which was established with cross-cutting research and education thrusts. Since this project's focus is cyber-centric security education, each student scholar will be required to take twelve hours (four courses) of cybersecurity courses, including a required course. An online background seminar series will be developed to prepare non-computer students for taking the common course. Students from non-computer majors who have adequate knowledge in the cyber field will be allowed to substitute one cybersecurity course with a security-related course in their own area. Internships at government agencies will be available for all student scholars every summer to both equip them with practical experience in working in such agencies and to allow the agencies to train and evaluate these students for placements after their graduation.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.