2146497

CyberCorps Scholarship for Service: Cybersecurity Workforce Preparation in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

This project aims to address the growing need for a highly-skilled national cybersecurity workforce capable of responding to rapidly evolving challenges in the age of artificial intelligence (AI). With funding from the NSF CyberCorps® Scholarship for Service (SFS) program, Georgia State University (GSU) will produce graduates capable of assuming a variety of cybersecurity roles in the U.S. government. Moreover, the project will increase the diversity of the federal cybersecurity workforce, leveraging GSU's position as a Minority-Serving Institution (MSI).

The SFS project will emphasize recruiting and graduating highly qualified candidates from groups that have remained underrepresented in the cybersecurity field, including those with military affiliations, first-generation college attendees, and low-income students. This project's unique and innovative focus will impact the nation's competitiveness and the U.S. government by producing highly skilled cybersecurity professionals who can develop and deploy trustworthy cybersystems to address grand challenges facing society.

GSU has established a strong curriculum in cybersecurity and privacy that balances technical rigor and hands-on experiences, offering students the opportunity to study various topics in cybersecurity and privacy. The project focuses on training and preparing a workforce with integrated cybersecurity, privacy, AI, and machine learning competencies to apply AI expertise to cybersecurity and build robust and trustworthy AI systems. Students will be prepared with the knowledge and practical skills to apply AI expertise and understand AI's safety, security, privacy, reliability, fairness, and ethical implications.

Over a five-year period, the project will provide scholarships to 25 students studying issues at the intersection of cybersecurity and AI. The SFS students will participate in an intensive academic program in cybersecurity, privacy, and trustworthy AI, including coursework and research in cutting-edge areas to sharpen the students' ability for creative thinking, making them better cybersecurity professionals.

In addition to completing rigorous, required coursework, the SFS scholars will engage in experiential learning through opportunities for individual and group research projects and other extracurricular activities, which will provide deeply technical as well as interdisciplinary learning experiences and leadership development tailored to each student's preparation and aspiration.

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.

Georgia State University Research Foundation

THE GOAL OF THIS FUNDING OPPORTUNITY, "CYBERCORPS(R) SCHOLARSHIP FOR SERVICE", IS IDENTIFIED IN THE LINK: HTTPS://WWW.NSF.GOV/PUBLICATIONS/PUB_SUMM.JSP?ODS_KEY=NSF21580

47.076 - Education and Human Resources

Division of Graduate Education (DGE) [NSF]

Atlanta, Georgia 30303-2921 United States

Single Zip Code

CyberCorps(R) Scholarship for Service (21-580)

Amendment Since initial award the total obligations have increased 182% from $1,119,210 to $3,155,873.