UMBC Receives $1M NSF Grant for its SFS Cybersecurity Program

The National Science Foundation awarded UMBC a third grant to continue its Scholarship for Service (SFS) cybersecurity scholarship program directed by computer science professors Alan T. Sherman (PI) and Roberto Yus (CoPI). The three-year award will support five new scholars majoring in CS, CE, or IS at the BS, MS, or PhD levels. Each year, scholars receive full tuition and fees and $6000 for professional expenses. In return, they must work for the government for each year of support at the federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial level. Scholars must be US citizens or permanent residents.Prospective scholars may apply by noon, September 12, 2025, via Scholarship Retriever.

Sherman (PI) and Richard Forno (CoPI) have directed UMBC’s SFS program since 2012, bringing over 12 million dollars to support cybersecurity at UMBC, including funds for scholarships and research activities of Sherman’s Cyber Defense Lab (CDL). UMBC has graduated over 100 SFS scholars, placing UMBC fifth in the nation for the number of SFS graduates. UMBC SFS scholars engage actively in research and hands-on learning. For example, each January, SFS scholars participate in a collaborative research project to analyze the security of some aspect of the UMBC network. In 2025, the scholars analyzed the security and privacy of a prototype of the new myUMBC search that integrates ChatGPT. Each summer, SFS scholars carry out an internship with the government.

Reflecting the growing importance of artificial intelligence and changing government funding priorities, new SFS scholars will be required to complete at least four AI courses in addition to completing a cybersecurity track. Previous innovations of UMBC’s SFS program included connecting scholars to local companies and government research labs, and extending SFS scholarships to two partner community colleges: Montgomery College and Prince George’s Community College.

At CDL, SFS scholars contribute to impactful research on several aspects of cybersecurity, including election security, formal-methods analysis of cryptographic protocols, and cybersecurity education. Recently, Sherman and his team have completed a security analysis of the SecureDNA system, which enables DNA synthesis labs to screen order requests against a database of known hazards. Sherman is a coauthor on a paper to be presented this fall at E-Vote-ID on a coercion-resistant voting system. In 2023, Sherman won best research paper at the SIGSCE conference for his paper on the psychometric validation of a cybersecurity concept inventory Drs. Sherman and former SFS scholar Golaszewski are organizing the 2026 Security Standardisation Research conference, which will take place in Baltimore.