Northeastern will host a regional hub for the Safeguarding the Entire Community of the U.S. Research Ecosystem (SECURE) Center in partnership with the National Science Foundation.
Northeastern University is partnering with the National Science Foundation to build a regional center that will help scientists keep important research secure.
Backed by a five-year, $4.9 million investment from the NSF, the Northeast regional center at Northeastern will serve as a clearinghouse for information for the research community, and will be led by principal investigator Robin Cyr, vice provost for research administration.
The center will be one of five regional hubs as part of the Safeguarding the Entire Community of the U.S. Research Ecosystem (SECURE) Center, which promises to promote national collaboration between academic institutions, nonprofits and businesses.
“This center positions Northeastern as a leader in bringing people together about research security,” says Laura Forlano, a professor at Northeastern’s College of Arts, Media and Design and senior design and development lead in the project.
“Our job is to reach out to all of the educational institutions in the region as well as museums, foundations and small and medium enterprises who are part of the conversation about research security.”
Other regional hubs will be housed at Emory University (Southeast), the University of Missouri (Midwest), the University of Texas at San Antonio and Texas A&M University (Southwest), and the University of Washington (West).
The center and regional hubs will help the research community identify and mitigate foreign interference, share information and reports on security risks, provide training and introduce researchers to government funding agencies.
“Over the next five years, we’re excited to bring together experts on research security from the Northeast region,” Forlano says.
NSF director Sethuraman Panchanathan says threats to the research enterprise must be mitigated.
“The SECURE Center is how we bring the research community together to identify risks, share information and leverage national expertise on research security to develop solutions that protect essential research being done at institutions across the nation,” he says.
“This is a community-focused platform, and the research community will be the drivers of how SECURE Center tools and services are designed, used and improved upon.”
Cyrus Moulton is a Northeastern Global News reporter. Email him at c.moulton@northeastern.edu. Follow him on X/Twitter @MoultonCyrus.