University of North Texas (UNT) is supporting three cohorts for the CyberCorps®: Scholarship for Service (SFS) program from a selected list of students who are interested in pursuing a PhD in Information Assurance and are interested in serving federal/state/local agencies after graduation. UNT's PhD Program prepares students to account for both technical and social issues when addressing security vulnerabilities. UNT's program is an interdisciplinary program between the College of Engineering, College of Business, and College of Information. The Center for Information and Computer Security at UNT has been designated as a National Center of Academic Excellence in both Information Assurance Education (CAE-IAE) and Research (CAE-R) by the National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security.

UNT's 4-year PhD program is preparing students to:

  1. Develop and apply theoretical models that draw from multiple disciplines to predict and solve security threats to public sectors such as electronic commerce, healthcare and telecommunications
  2. Conduct advanced data analysis and visualization of vulnerabilities using the data from emerging technologies such as smart phones, social networks (e.g., Facebook, Twitter), using embedded-sensors, and using the next-generation Internet capabilities, and
  3. Develop, interpret, and administer local, state and federal security standards, policies and laws relevant to IA.

All students conduct research and write a dissertation with the help of a doctoral committee constituted of faculty from the three colleges. Each semester an assessment committee evaluates the SFS program.

The College of Information student body population is more than 75% female and the SFS program draws on the large number of undergraduates to increase the number of minority and women PhDs in IA.

UNT's SFS Program is also promoting a plan to recruit community college teachers who are already teaching security courses.

Funded By:

  • National Science Foundation (NSF)
Start Date: 
Saturday, September 1, 2012
End Date: 
Thursday, August 31, 2017
Total Amount (all institutions combined): 
$1061410.00
Individual Amounts: 
$1,061,414.00 (UNT)
Principal Investigators: 
Ram Dantu - ProfessorDan KimSuliman Hawamdeh
Award Numbers: 
1241768 (UNT)

UNT Center:

  • Center for Information and Cyber Security (CICS)

UNT Department:

  • Computer Science and Engineering (CSE)
  • Information Technology and Decision Sciences (ITDS)
  • Library and Information Sciences (LIS)

UNT Lab:

  • Network Security Laboratory (NSL)