iMentor Workshop at the ACM CCS Conference 2020-2022

Virginia Polytechnic Institute And State University, Blacksburg VA

Investigators

Abstract

The iMentor Workshop focuses squarely on attracting, mentoring and career advising early stage graduate students from underrepresented communities who want to pursue a career in computer security. Being co-located with the ACM Conference on Computer and Communications Security (ACM CCS), the workshop provides an opportunity for attendees to also participate in the main conference and benefit from it. ACM CCS is a top-tier venue for quick and wide dissemination of cutting-edge research results in computer and communications security. ACM CCS achieves this by hosting several technical sessions, in-depth tutorials poster sessions, panels and workshops. The conference invites leading researchers every year for keynote talks. They present seminars on some of the most intriguing and pressing challenges in the discipline, highlighting open avenues for further work in these areas. Participation in the iMentor workshop and the main ACM CCS conference together with an opportunity to be mentored one-on-one by senior graduate students and faculty is thus a valuable opportunity for early stage graduate students. The proposal requests travel support for approximately 20 participants from underrepresented communities each year in 2020, 2021 and 2022 at an average rate of $2,400 per participant. The support will cover travel costs (economy airfare), food, lodging, and registration costs at the discounted student rate for the workshop as well as the main conference. Criteria for selection include evidence of a serious interest in the field as demonstrated by personal statement, research potential and potential benefit to student. The workshop is specifically geared toward participation of early stage graduate students from women and other underrepresented minorities in cybersecurity. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.