The CISPA-Stanford Center for Cybersecurity is a joint center for cybersecurity research between CISPA – Helmholtz Center for Information Security and Stanford University which recognizes the high potential of a mutually beneficial cooperation between CISPA and Stanford in the field of cybersecurity and follows from the desire of the scientists of the parties to conduct joint research. The CISPA-Stanford Center was established in 2016 and is supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).
The collaboration has the following two intertwined goals:
- Establish a joint research program in the key information technology area of “Cybersecurity”
- Incorporate a strong career development component to alleviate the shortage of qualified faculty and scientists in information technology in Germany.
To achieve these goals, CISPA and Stanford University established this collaboration to form the CISPA-Stanford Center for Cybersecurity, with corresponding research activities at CISPA and at Stanford University. The center addresses the particular career-development needs of young German-based scientists in cybersecurity. It fosters the professional development of a small number of selected, outstanding individuals by providing them with the opportunity to work at Stanford University as Visiting Assistant Professors in the area of cybersecurity for two years and to then return to Germany to continue their research as a senior researcher at the CISPA and ultimately as a professor at a German university or a research leader in industry.
CISPA
The Helmholtz Center for Information Security (CISPA) in Saarbrücken is dedicated to addressing the grand research challenges in security and privacy in a comprehensive and holistic manner. It strives for cutting-edge, often disruptive foundational research, augmented with innovative application-oriented research, corresponding technology transfer and societal outreach.
Stanford University
Stanford University is a fully private university. Its School of Engineering, established in 1925, now is home to about 25% of its students. The Departments of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science are the two largest departments of the School, with together more than 1000 graduate students (studying towards an M.S. or Ph.D. degree), and more than 100 faculty. Both departments are rated no. 1 in the US in their respective fields by the National Research Council. As a leading “research university,” Stanford strongly emphasizes research.
In 2014 the Stanford Cyber Initiative has been created as a central hub at Stanford to coordinate the interdisciplinary research necessary to address the challenges and opportunities posed by modern information technology.