This award funds a new CISE Research Experience for Undergraduates site focused on information assurance and security at Purdue University. Each year, eight undergraduate students will be recruited to work with faculty from Purdue's Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Education (CERIAS). The site plans to target students from institutions without graduate programs who would not normally have access to undergraduate research as well as students from traditionally under-represented groups. Students will work on a variety of research projects that embody the nature of the socio-technical challenges in information assurance and security including assurable software and architectures, enclave and network security, authentication and privacy, risk management, policies, and trusted social and human interactions. Students will also participate in a number of professional development activities and a special ethics component.
The intellectual merit of this project lies with the strong faculty and infrastructure of the CERIAS Center. Students will work with top researchers on projects that are relevant and important. Information assurance is vital for the protection of the nation?s critical computing and communications infrastructure. Thus the students and faculty working together have the potential to impact the research body in this important area.
The broader impacts of the project include providing a quality research experience to undergraduate students, particularly students from underrepresented groups and from institutions with limited research environments. Thus this project has the potential to produce new computer science graduate students and faculty members and to advance discovery and understanding while promoting learning.
