Through this scholarship program, the University of Pittsburgh offers highly qualified students the opportunity to become information assurance (IA) professionals of high caliber who will serve the nation and the global society by protecting the cyberspace. Under this program, each scholarship recipient is required to complete a Masters degree in Information Science or Telecommunication and Networking with the Security Assured Information Systems (SAIS) track option. In addition, Ph.D. students in either program with IA concentration can request support for the last two years of their studies. The scholarship program supports three cohorts of 4 students over a period of four years.
Intellectual Merit: Scholarship students benefit from a highly fertile multidisciplinary educational environment and a strong and diversified, high quality IA curriculum, which is among the only eight in the nation that has been certified for all the five national IA educational standards set by the Committee on National Systems Security (CNSS). The program establishes a well-coordinated management and administration structure to ensure that:
(1) Scholarship opportunities are available to highly competitive, students from underrepresented groups in IA, (2) Scholarship students are provided with appropriate mentoring support throughout their academic program, and (3) Scholarship students are engaged in professional development and synergistic activities that enrich their academic experience.
Broader Impact: The program places significant emphasis on the recruitment of students from underrepresented groups in IA areas through its links with minority serving postsecondary institutions such as the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez and Lincoln University. The program also benefits from synergistic interactions among the various IA and homeland defense related initiatives within the university.
