A team of faculty and students at Meharry School of Applied Computational Sciences is helping Fisk University develop a new cybersecurity curriculum. The goal of this collaboration is to improve access to modern learning tools and establish a new cybersecurity concentration within the Fisk Computer Science and Data Science programs.
The initiative is made possible by a $399,998 grant from the National Science Foundation to address the national shortage of cybersecurity professionals through a new collaborative program, CyberQuest.
As co-principal investigator, Pushpita Chatterjee, Ph.D., assistant professor of computer science and data science, is leading the SACS team that includes two research assistants. SACS will support Fisk principal investigator Ning Zhang, Ph.D., assistant professor of computer science.
Meharry SACS’s contributions include:
- Assisting with curriculum design and alignment with current cybersecurity standards.
- Mentoring undergraduate students through the Research Buddy Program.
- Facilitating hands-on, research-driven learning experiences.
- Supporting interdisciplinary collaboration between AI and cybersecurity.
“We are providing experiential learning opportunities, particularly through summer research programs and mentorship in applied AI and cybersecurity domains,” said Dr. Chatterjee.
A primary contribution of SACS is the mentorship of four Fisk undergraduate students each year through a structured Research Buddy Program, focusing on AI and cybersecurity research for health care or other related applications.
“As part of this collaboration, two SACS students and I will work closely with four Fisk undergraduate students during the upcoming summer under the leadership of Dr. Zhang,” said Dr. Chatterjee.
CyberQuest is a three-year project, funded through the NSF’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities Undergraduate Program (HBCU-UP). Formerly titled “CyberQuest: Curriculum Innovation and Experiential Learning for Cybersecurity Workforce Development,” the initiative aims to provide undergraduate students with the modern tools and hands-on experience necessary to enter high-demand careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
