Sixth Call to Recognise Academic Centres of Excellence in Cyber Security Research

In association with the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) has issued a sixth call to recognise Academic Centres of Excellence in Cyber Security Research (ACEs-CSR).

Research and innovation carried out by the UK’s academic and business sectors underpins the nation’s cyber security capability. The overall aim of the scheme is to identify and give due recognition to all UK Higher Education Institutions carrying out cyber security research of sufficiently notable quality, scale and impact across a reasonable range of cyber security knowledge domains.

ACE-CSR recognition raises the profile of a recognised institution’s cyber security research efforts among students, peers, government and business. Recognised institutions will be able to hold the title of ‘Academic Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security Research’ for three years, subject to complying with appropriate terms and conditions of membership of the scheme. They will also be supported by an EPSRC research grant of up to £48,000 to support their work.

Cyber security research areas relevant for this scheme include:

Cryptography, key management and security protocols.

Sociotechnical Security.

Hardware engineering.

Total network defence.

Strategic technologies and products.

Side channel and fault analysis.

Building trusted and trustworthy systems.

Security of Critical Systems and Operational Technology.

Areas that may not traditionally have been considered to be enablers of better cyber security, such as behavioural science and economics, continue to assume an increasingly important role in the field. EPSRC expects that recognised ACEs-CSR will reflect this trend.

Applications are welcome from UK higher education institutions whose cyber security research is of internationally notable scale, quality and impact and that are eligible for EPSRC funding.

This call is separated into two components which must both be completed:

A proposal for recognition as an ACE-CSR, submitted through an online form on the EPSRC website.

A proposal for a grant from EPSRC to be used to support activities associated with recognition, submitted through Je-S.

Applications should be submitted on the call webpage by the 26 April 2019 (16:00) deadline. Grant applications via Je-S should be submitted between 28 February 2019 and 30 April 2019.

More information about this research funding opportunity and the application process is available on the RESEARCHconnect funding information platform. RESEARCHconnect provides up-to-the minute content, insight and analysis on research funding news and policy. To find out more about how RESEARCHconnect can keep you in the know, and subscription fees, contact us today.