Two universities in the UK have been officially recognised as Academic Centres of Excellence in Cybersecurity Research.
De Montfort University and Northumbria University have both been added to the list of Academic Centres of Excellence by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the National Cybersecurity Centre (NCSC), in acknowledgement of their ‘first rate’ cybersecurity research capabilities. They join 17 other academic institutions nationwide, including the Universities of Cambridge, Oxford and Edinburgh, in producing outstanding research in the field of cybersecurity; and are now considered to be strategic partners of the UK government.
De Montfort University has also been declared an Airbus Centre of Excellence in Cybersecurity and Forensics. Professor Eerke Boiten, Director of the CTI and Professor in Cybersecurity at De Montfort University, said: “We are very proud of this achievement. Being named an ACE-CSR highlights our strong industry engagement and first class research capabilities. This recognition will strongly support our future plans for national and international collaborative research in topics such as industrial control systems, human factors in security, incident response, cybercrime and privacy.”
Professor Lynne Coventry, Principal Investigator and Research Director of Psychology at Northumbria University, said: “Cybersecurity research has typically been directed towards finding technological solutions, but as our technological perimeter has strengthened, people have been left behind and become prime targets for cyber-attackers. To stop today’s advanced attacks, we need to understand how to better protect the general public by adopting a people-centric cybersecurity strategy and exploring how to design security technology and policies which support individuals in their endeavours, rather than being perceived as a barrier. At Northumbria our holistic, multidisciplinary approach to cybersecurity integrates diverse knowledge from specialists in technology, human behaviour, business, law and design. We are delighted to receive this recognition for our work in these areas.”
Both universities’ status as Academic Centres of Excellence in Cybersecurity Research will be active until 2022.
