Secure and Trustworthy Cyberspace

The Secure and Trustworthy Cyberspace (SaTC) grant aims to address and find solutions for the exposed vulnerabilities and frailty of the global cyberspace that have led to ongoing cyber-attacks on corporations, agencies, infrastructures, and individuals. Aware of the urgent need to enhance cybersecurity and privacy, the program focuses on tackling scientific and engineering problems, as well as improving human behaviors and choices related to these fields. This is done with the intent to foster novel cyber system designs, security for existing infrastructure, and to educate and inspire people about cybersecurity.

The SaTC program aligns with the strategies of the National Science and Technology Council's (NSTC) Federal Cybersecurity Research and Development Strategic Plan (RDSP) and National Privacy Research Strategy (NPRS). Its main goals include protecting and expanding the benefits of cyber systems, while also ensuring their security and privacy. The RDSP highlights six areas essential for successful cybersecurity initiatives: scientific foundations, risk management, human aspects, transitioning research into practice, workforce development, and research infrastructure enhancement. Moreover, the NPRS lays out a framework for privacy research.

The program is looking for proposals in the fields of cybersecurity and privacy, from sectors such as computing, communication, information sciences, engineering, education mathematics, statistics, and social, behavioral, and economic sciences. Proposals can be from a single discipline or could be interdisciplinary spanning multiple fields. Drive from the interests of NSF's Directorates for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE), Engineering (ENG), Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS), Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE), and Education and Human Resources (EHR), the grant is divided into CORE, EDU and TTP designations, each with its own focuses and restrictions.

The CORE designation funds multi-disciplinary cybersecurity research. The EDU label identifies proposals focusing on education and training in cybersecurity and privacy. The TTP designation is for proposals transitioning existing research into practice. Small CORE and TTP projects can request up to $600,000 for up to three years, and medium projects between $600,001 and $1,200,000 for up to four years. EDU proposals are limited to up to $400,000 for three years, with collaborated efforts involving cybersecurity experts and education researchers eligible for up to $500,000 for three years.