Cybersecurity undergrads: don’t miss this summer internship opportunity!

A unique opportunity is available for undergraduate students in cybersecurity to design and conduct research under the guidance of expert mentors. Apply for the Science of Security Summer Internship  and you could be selected to spend eight weeks at the Information Trust Institute (ITI) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, working with faculty and staff.

The resulting research will then be presented in a poster session at the 2016 HotSoS Science of Security Symposium.

The summer internship program, which is sponsored by the National Security Agency, will also include visits to companies, during which you’ll learn about the issues and practice of cybersecurity in the real world. Dates for the internship are June 1 through July 24 (subject to change).  Selected applicants will be provided with lodging, a stipend, and a meal allowance.

The application deadline is February 1, 2015. You’ll need to provide the following information: 1) five-page Research Project Proposal, 2) Resume, 3) Transcripts, 4) Names and contact information for three references. Selection of participants will be made on February 27.

Submit application materials here. Contact Andrea Whitesell at whitesel@illinois.edu if you have questions.

Science of security is an emerging area that emphasizes the methodology of research in cybersecurity as much as the results – an approach that is critical in addressing the fundamental problems of security in a principled manner. It approaches knowledge discovery in a way tha validates predications through logic or repeatable empirical experiments.

The field has broad applications, including development of mathematical models about which properties can be proven and/or predictions made, as well as empirical research that poses hypotheses that are tested by measurement and analysis.