UK Puts Cyber Security on Academic Map with £3.8 Million for University College London Research

The first UK Cyber Security Research Institute benefiting from a £3.8 million government grant is to open at the University College London (UCL) in October to enable co-operation among “social scientists, mathematicians and computer scientists from across” the country, as reported by zdnet.

Designed to “improve understanding of the science behind the growing Cyber Security threat”, the Research Institute will be led by UCL professor Angela Sasse and it will operate as a “virtual organization” comprising seven universities and relying on security industry and government support. GCHQ, one of the three UK intelligence agencies, is a patron of the program.

“The UK is one of the most secure places in the world to do business – already 8% of our GDP is generated from the cyber world and that trend is set to grow,” said UK Minister of Cyber Security Francis Maude. “But we are not complacent. Through the National Cyber Security Programme we are putting serious investment into the best UK expertise to lead thought in the science of cyber. The UK’s first academic Research Institute will strengthen capability in a strategically important area, keeping the UK at the forefront of international research in the field.”

This first institute is planned to operate for 3.5 years and a second Research Institute as well as “a scheme to recognize Academic Centers of Excellence in Cyber Security Education” are on the way.