NORTHFIELD, Vt. — Norwich University and the Norwich Department of Defense (DoD) Cyber Institute will host the Cybersecurity Research in Undergraduate Programs (CyRUP) conference with representatives from all six Senior Military Colleges and three prominent keynote presentations from April 6 to April 8.
The Senior Military Colleges (SMCs) are The Citadel, the University of North Georgia, the Virginia Military Institute, Virginia Tech, Texas A&M and Norwich University. All submitted research to present at this conference. Three students from each school were selected to participate in the conference; one faculty member from each school will accompany them.
CyRUP is the first time undergraduate students from the nation's six senior military colleges have come together to share their research work in a peer-reviewed conference.
“By developing this forum through the DoD SMC Cyber Institutes, all our undergrads have access to each SMCs unique cyber expertise to help further the science of cybersecurity,” said Dr. Huw Read, director of the Center for Cybersecurity and Forensics Education and Research (CyFER). “We want to see CyRUP grow, and to see more co-authorship between undergrads of different institutions. Only through collaboration and new ideas can we solve the cyber issues facing the nation.”
Attendees will arrive April 6 and attend an evening welcome reception at the Sullivan Museum and History Center, dining on Vermont foods.
April 7 will consist of an opening address, student research presentations and a keynote address. Afterward, conference attendees will depart to visit a local sugarhouse and sample maple syrup before a main conference dinner at the Capital Plaza in Montpelier.
April 8’s slate consists of a keynote address, Defense Department cyber career panel, Emerging Cyber Technology panel, and final student research presentations. (For some Norwich cybersecurity students, this will be the third week with capture the flag activities following Hack the Port and the National Security Agency Cyber Exercise.)
At 11:30 a.m. April 7, U.S. Cyber Command Executive Director David E. Frederick Jr. will give a virtual keynote presentation in Mack Hall Auditorium. At 7 p.m. April 7, retired U.S. Army Maj. Gen. George Franz will give a keynote presentation at the CyRUP dinner.
At 9 a.m. April 8, Victor Piotrowski, Ph.D., who oversees the CyberCorps®: Scholarship for Service (SFS) program among other Cybersecurity Education and Workforce Development programs, will give a keynote presentation.
See the full public schedule.
Norwich University is this conference’s founding host; the plan is for hosting locations to rotate among the SMCs.
The conference’s objectives are:
- To promote exceptional undergraduate student research in the areas of cybersecurity and computer science.
- To engage undergraduate students in research-focused programming to encourage future participation in research and academic fields.
- To provide a forum for undergraduate students and prominent cybersecurity professionals to meet and participate in productive, research-focused discourse.
- To gather undergraduate students from the universities participating in the Department of Defense Cyber Institutes.
- Norwich University on Sept. 27 received a two-year $18.5 million grant from the National Security Agency as the lead institution to continue to develop the Department of Defense (DoD) Cyber Institutes at the six Senior Military Colleges.
Building on past grants
This funding builds upon the grant awarded in September 2020, designating Norwich University as the lead in establishing the DoD Cyber Institutes to create a pipeline of qualified cyber professionals in current and projected critical work roles. In Fall 2020, the six DoD Cyber Institutes were established at Norwich University, The Citadel, the University of North Georgia, Virginia Tech, Texas A&M and the Virginia Military Institute.
Norwich University was an early cybersecurity education pioneer, offering a Bachelor of Science in computer security and information assurance beginning in 1999.
Norwich University programs, ranked No. 2 by the Ponemon Institute for cybersecurity in the United States, are consistently ranked among the nation’s best for cyber security education. Norwich University is recognized as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education by the National Security Agency and the Homeland Security Department and has received designation as a Center of Digital Forensics Academic Excellence (CDFAE) by the Defense Cyber Crime Center (DC3).
In 2002, Norwich University joined what is now called the National Science Foundation’s Cyber Corps: Scholarship for Service program. Norwich is partnered with the U.S. Army Reserves to develop cyber education curricula that align with federal standards and cybersecurity needs.
Norwich’s online graduate program was named one of the top 10 best cybersecurity graduate programs in the country by universities.com. Norwich is also home to GenCyber@NU, a National Security Agency and National Science Foundation-funded cybersecurity camp for high school students.
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About Norwich University
Norwich University is a diversified academic institution that educates traditional-age students and adults in a Corps of Cadets and as civilians. Norwich offers a broad selection of traditional and distance-learning programs culminating in baccalaureate and graduate degrees. Norwich University was founded in 1819 by U.S. Army Capt. Alden Partridge and is the United States’ oldest private military college. Norwich is one of our nation's six Senior Military Colleges and the birthplace of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC). www.norwich.edu
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