Auburn one of 11 institutions nationally to hold three National Center of Academic Excellence designations
Published: Mar 17, 2025 11:00 AM
By Joe McAdory
Auburn University has been re-designated through 2030 as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Research (CAE-R) by the National Security Agency (NSA) – making the university one of only 11 institutions nationally to hold CAE designations for cyber operations, cyber defense and cyber research.
CAE-R designations are granted to regionally accredited, degree-awarding four-year institutions, Department of Defense schools or PhD-granting military academies. These institutions must be classified by the Carnegie Foundation as doctoral universities with outstanding research reputations.
Auburn University checks those boxes.
“We are honored to be re-designated as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Research by the National Security Agency,” said Computer Science and Software Engineering (CSSE) Department Chair Hari Narayanan.
“This recognition carries particular importance because it now applies to the computer science and software engineering doctoral program as well as the MS in cybersecurity engineering program. This re-designation underscores Auburn University's unwavering commitment to advancing cybersecurity education and research and places Auburn among an elite group of only 11 institutions currently recognized with all three CAE designations. CSSE faculty and students continue to lead the way in developing innovative solutions to protect our nation's critical infrastructure.”
Farah Kandah, associate professor in CSSE and Auburn University’s point-of-contact lead for the National Centers of Academic Excellence, said the designation acknowledges Auburn's rigorous cyber-related CSSE doctoral programs and its alignment with the NSA's stringent criteria.
“We are honored to receive this re-designation as it underscores our dedication to developing innovative solutions to protect our nation's critical infrastructure,” he said. “The National Cyber Strategy emphasizes the importance of a highly skilled cybersecurity workforce as a strategic national security advantage. Auburn University's efforts in cybersecurity education are pivotal in addressing the critical shortage of professionals with these essential skills. The NSA's re-designation reaffirms Auburn's role in building the domestic talent pipeline, from primary through postsecondary education.”
With rigorous standards, the CAE-R designation recognizes U.S. institutions that integrate cybersecurity research into their doctoral curricula, provide insights into academic programs for federal agencies, facilitate government-academia exchanges and support solutions for securing critical information systems. It also aims to strengthen the nation's cybersecurity research and education posture.
Requirements include a recognized research classification, institutional commitment, doctoral programs in cybersecurity, engaged faculty, peer-reviewed research, external funding, student involvement, institutional support and faculty service in the cybersecurity research community. To meet this criteria, Auburn University faculty were heavy producers in cybersecurity research and were involved in the cybersecurity community — including leadership in cybersecurity events. Auburn University CSSE graduate students’ publications and produced work were also essential components in meeting the requirement to acquire this designation.
Not only does CSSE interweave cybersecurity research through a variety of undergraduate and graduate courses, but the department houses the Auburn Cyber Research Center, which integrates cutting-edge technology and research to develop innovative methods of protecting our nation’s cybersecurity, and works closely with the McCrary Institute for Cyber and Critical Infrastructure Security.
With today’s emerging technologies, Kandah expressed the importance of a cyber-informed workforce.
“We need to emphasize the importance of cybersecurity, especially in the context of artificial intelligence, which is susceptible to issues like data pollution and model bias,” he said. “These vulnerabilities can be exploited through cybersecurity attacks. Therefore, it's essential for people to know how to implement cybersecurity measures from the early stages of development. Through research, we can achieve this.”
Auburn University offers expertise in various areas of cybersecurity and computing. These include additive manufacturing security, artificial intelligence, data science, machine learning, assistive technology, computer architecture, computational biology and computing education. The university also focuses on cyber and cyber-physical security, information assurance, privacy, databases and data mining, distributed computing, high-performance computing, human-computer interaction, information retrieval and natural language processing.
Additionally, Auburn excels in modeling and simulation, programming languages and environments, real-time and embedded computing, self-organizing and autonomous systems, sensor networks, software engineering, software visualization, spectrum and network economics, unmanned aerial vehicles, web application design and development and wireless and mobile networks and systems.
“Our programs align with national security requirements, and we offer strong, applicable courses that relate to up-to-date research,” Kandah said. “Having multiple faculty members awarded research grants in the cyber arena shows the significance and relevance of our work.”
Media Contact: , jem0040@auburn.edu, 334.844.3447
CAE-R designations are granted to regionally accredited, degree-awarding four-year institutions, Department of Defense schools or PhD-granting military academies.
To fix accessbility issues
Recent Headlines
