The EPSRC announced a new call for proposals from academic researchers who wish to form part of a Research Institute in Automated Program Analysis and Verification (the Research Institute)
Summary
Reflecting the aims of the National Cyber Security programme, UK Government and its delivery partners are working to increase theUK’s academic capability in all fields of Cyber Security. Together BIS, EPSRC, GCHQ and the Office of Cyber Security and Information Assurance (OCSIA) have developed a joint approach and strategy for reaching this goal. As part of that strategy, EPSRC and GCHQ are inviting proposals from academic researchers who wish to form part of a Research Institute in Automated Program Analysis and Verification (the Research Institute).
Working in conjunction with GCHQ whilst undertaking research to be published in the public domain, the Research Institute will identify and address key issues that underpin our understanding of Cyber Security.
The Research Institute will be jointly funded by GCHQ and EPSRC, with an indicative budget from the sponsors of £3M over three years, through EPSRC research grants.
EPSRC and GCHQ’s aspiration is to promote maximum exploitation of the outputs of the Research Institute in order to improve Cyber Security in theUKas a whole and to gain maximum impact from the research. It is anticipated that the Research Institute will provide a focus for liaison with stakeholders from GCHQ and other parts of government and business.
Background
Context and need
Modern economies are critically dependent on the functioning of computer programs. However, such software is likely to contain unintended functionality no matter how skilled the programmers who created it. This situation is likely to be exacerbated by the huge growth of applications from a wide variety of sources that will introduce additional security vulnerabilities. Moreover, malware is growing in volume, sophistication and the threat that it poses.
From the perspectives of theUK’s Cyber Security and prosperity agendas these are issues that need to be addressed. Thus, there is a clear and pressing need to improve Cyber Security by providing greater understanding of delivered code and binaries either by proving properties or identifying potential weaknesses.
Objectives of the Research Institute
The overall goal of this Research Institute is to undertake internationally leading research in automated program analysis and verification, providing the foundation for the development of new methodologies and research-quality tools and techniques that can be applied to post-development programs.
The closing date for proposals is 16:00 on 05 October 2012. Please see below for the full call document.
Research Institute in Automated Program Analysis and Verification (PDF 111KB)