INformation Security Research & Education
Leading Institution: Stevens Institute of Technology
What is INSuRE?
Program Description and History
The INSuRE program is a collaboration between government agencies, national labs, FFRDCs, and CAE institutions to provide students with an opportunity to work on real-world applied research problems. INSuRE aims to improve the workforce readiness of participating students by building skills in applied cybersecurity research, teamwork, communication, problem solving, and project management.
INSuRE provides CAE institutions with a means to offer opportunities to their students on research methods working on real-world problems in a way that otherwise may not exist at their institutions. In turn, the government agencies, national labs, and FFRDCs can work with students who are excited and eager to make progress on their projects. Through this engagement the agencies, national Labs and FFRDCs gain access to some of the most promising cybersecurity talents and INSuRE serves as an effective means for recruitment.
The central activity of the INSuRE program is a research course that is offered at each participating institution, linking student teams with Problem Mentors (PMs) from government agencies and laboratories to work on problems of national interest proposed by the PMs. In 2021, INSuRE was expanded to include a new track with the goal of facilitating research collaborations between government agencies and research active faculty in academia. To differentiate the two tracks, the original track is now called INSuRE+E (E for Education) and the new track is called INSuRE+C (C for Collaborative). All 4-year institutions that are National Center of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity (NCAE) are eligible to participate in INSuRE+E while INSuRE+C is opened to NCAE in Research (CAE-R) only.
The goal of INSuRE is to connect government agencies, national labs and FFRDCs (agencies for short) with academic institutions in order to improve cybersecurity workforce skills in research, teamwork, presentation skills and project management; and to advance the state-of-the-art in applied research on problems of national interest.
Through the INSuRE program, students and faculty work on real-world applied research problems in a way that otherwise may not exist at their academic institutions, while agencies have dedicated students help address applied research problems that are of interest and importance to the agencies. Through this engagement, agencies gain access to some of the most promising cybersecurity talents and students gain valuable workplace and team skills to prepare them for a future in cybersecurity research.
INSuRE Tracks
Brian Ricks
Professor at University of Texas at Dallas
"INSuRE provides an invaluable experience for cyber security students to work on real-world projects with real-world impact. Through INSuRE, students showcase their skills and make lasting connections which can help propel their future careers."
Sanjay Goel
Professor at University of Albany, SUNY
"The INSuRE program has helped introduce students to research and giving them hands on experience on complex cybersecurity problems. This has become one of the most popular classes in the program … Several students have gone on to continue Masters and Doctoral Degrees after going through the program."
Anonymous
Former INSuRE Student, Former INSuRE Problem Mentor
"The INSuRE program provided me with two very important things, a love for research and a respect for the people that are able to lead a research initiative. As a student I enjoyed participating in the program, broadening my horizons, and getting the opportunity to solve real world problems that have an impact. Now as a PM I have the unique opportunity to throw my own research problem into the ring and help provide my peers the same opportunity to learn to love research and hopefully inspire them to do their own research when they graduate school as well."
Anonymous
Former INSuRE Student
"It went beyond my expectations. The chance to work with peers from different institutions was amazing. … It really helped me see a path forward in my career and open my eyes to know new areas."
Contacts