National Science Foundation’s Scholarship for Service Program

National Science Foundation’s Scholarship for Service Program

The Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering, University of Florida, has received a grant from the National Science Foundation for the CyberCorps® Scholarship for Service (SFS) Program. The grant provides monetary support in the form of scholarships, covering full tuition and providing stipends, to domestic students pursuing degrees specializing in cybersecurity-related topics and information assurance. The program requires that students ‘pay-back’ the scholarship with service, that is a commitment to work for a Federal, State, Local or Tribal government organization in the United States for a period equal to the length of the scholarship. The goal of the CyberCorps® program is to recruit, educate, and train a diverse workforce of individuals interested in taking on the task of securing government agencies from cybersecurity and information technology system threats. Students from traditionally underrepresented populations, including women and minority populations, are strongly encouraged to apply. The University of Florida’s (UF) FICS Research Department will work closely with Florida International University (FIU), on the awarded joint grant towards developing an implementing the SURPASS: A Unique Scholarship Program in Hardware and Systems Security. UF and FIU are uniquely qualified to offer this scholarship program in hardware and systems security (HSS) because of their curricular efforts, strong research programs, faculty strength, as well as unique lab facilities, which will help deliver an exemplary program in the nation. Both universities serve diverse student populations, have strong internationally-recognized hardware and systems security research programs, and extensive curricular offerings in cybersecurity. The UF team is led by FICS Research’s Education Director, Prof. Swarup Bhunia, and includes fellow FICS Research faculty Diversity Director Prof. Daniela Oliveira, Co-Director Mark Tehranipoor, and Prof. Kevin Butler. While, the FIU team is led by Prof. Selcuk Uluagac and includes Profs. Kemal Akkaya and Alexander Pons.