CyberCorps(R): Scholarship for Service (Renewal): An Interdisciplinary Cybersecurity Program with Technical and Managerial Paths

Security training has become the foundation of societal resilience, often necessary for organizational effectiveness. The State University of New York at Buffalo (UB) is a designated National Center of Academic Excellence (CAE) in cybersecurity education and a CAE in cybersecurity research (CAE-R). UB will leverage this security foundation by participating in the CyberCorps(R): Scholarship for Service (SFS) program to prepare highly qualified cybersecurity professionals to enter the federal workforce. This project builds on a successful program and develops a comprehensive cybersecurity curriculum based on security best practices, experiential learning, and applied research. It will develop authentic pathways to cybersecurity by expanding the program's scope to include undergraduate students and by recruiting students for graduate studies. This project also plans to inspire middle and high school students to become security problem solvers and security professionals. The project will provide scholars with an enhanced, interdisciplinary cybersecurity experience by engaging faculty from computer science, engineering and management sciences with support from mathematics and law at UB. This project will continue to develop and sustain a successful, broad cybersecurity program by building on existing research on ransomware, blockchain technology, and information authenticity. The project will train students in four cohorts in both technical and managerial paths. A minor in cybersecurity will be offered for undergraduate students and an advanced certificate for graduate students specializing in cybersecurity. UB will leverage the state-of-the-art resources in Buffalo's Regional Computer Forensics Lab (RCFL) to offer 15 high-level experience-based courses. These courses include Software Testing, Blockchain Application Development, Systems Security, Network Security, Privacy, Ethics, and an integrative Information Assurance course that will prepare students for industry certification. The project team will actively engage different groups to recruit students and conduct cybersecurity awareness workshops in Buffalo. Partnerships with local industries will allow educational opportunities and talent development in the emerging domains of artificial intelligence, analytics, and blockchain technology. These stakeholder engagement opportunities will broaden the impact of the project’s cybersecurity efforts within the community. This project is supported by the CyberCorps® Scholarship for Service (SFS) program, which funds proposals establishing or continuing scholarship programs in cybersecurity and aligns with the U.S. National Cyber Strategy to develop a superior cybersecurity workforce. Following graduation, scholarship recipients are required to work in cybersecurity for a federal, state, local, or tribal Government organization for the same duration as their scholarship support. 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.