NSF REU Site: Research Experiences for Undergraduates in Hardware and Embedded Systems Security and Trust (RHEST)
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Program Overview
RHEST is a Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Site hosted by the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) at the University of Cincinnati (UC) in Cincinnati, Ohio. The program is supported by National Science Foundation (NSF) under Award CNS-2150086. This is a 3-year program starting from summer 2022.
RHEST hosts 10 undergraduate students for 10 summer weeks each year to work on research projects in the area of hardware and embedded systems security and trust. The security and trust of hardware and embedded systems play increasingly critical roles in building secure, reliable, and trustworthy computing systems, communication networks, and cyberinfrastructures. The students will work closely with faculty mentors, advance their knowledge and hands-on skills in hardware and embedded systems security and trust, and develop professional skills for their future careers in computing.
The REU research projects offered by RHEST cover critical and emerging research problems in hardware and embedded systems security and trust, including side-channel attacks, fault injection attacks, reserve engineering, security validation of third-party intellectual properties, and detections of hardware Trojans. The long-term goal of the research projects is to defend against (or mitigate) attacks, minimize information leakage, and strengthen the security and trust of hardware and embedded systems.
RHEST participants will also have opportunities to interact with and receive feedback from industry partners of CHEST. CHEST (Center for Hardware and Embedded Systems Security and Trust) is a NSF IUCRC (Industry–University Cooperative Research Center) led by ECE Department at UC.
Research Projects offered by RHEST 2024 Program can be found here. Each applicant will need to indicate top-3 projects in the application on NSF ETAP website.
A copy of our 2024 program flyer can be found here
2024 Program Features
Each REU participant will receive
$8,000 stipend and meal allowance
Free on-campus housing at UC or housing allowance.
Travel support (up to $300) to and from the REU Site
2024 Program Important Dates
Application open: January 8, 2024 (applications are reviewed on a rolling basis)
Application deadline: March 1, 2024
Notification of acceptance: March 21, 2024
2024 program dates: May 20, 2024 – July 26, 2024
Applicant Eligibility
To apply for this REU site, an applicant must meet the following criteria
Must be a U.S. citizen or Permanent Resident
Must be an undergraduate student at the time of the REU participation
Must be majored in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Cybersecurity, or related fields
Has a GPA of 3.0 or higher.
Students who are from underrepresented groups in computing (including women, African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, Pacific Islanders, and persons with disabilities) and students who are from academic institutions with limited research opportunities in STEM are strongly encouraged to apply.
How to Apply
Students who are interested in participating this REU site can apply through the NSF Education and Training Application (ETAP) website.
ETAP (Search keywords: RHEST or University of Cincinnati)
Applicants will need to submit the following documents on ETAP website:
Resume/CV
Unoffical Transcript
One letter recommendation (from faculty)
Personal statement (up to 2 pages describing his/her motivations of applying for this REU Site, research interests, and top-3 research projects he/she is interested in working on)
Contacts of This REU Site
Boyang Wang, Ph.D. (PI)
Associate Professor
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
University of Cincinnati
Cincinnati, Ohio 45221
Phone: 513-556-4785
Email: boyang.wang@uc.edu
John M. Emmert, Ph.D. (co-PI)
Professor
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
University of Cincinnati
Cincinnati, Ohio 45221
Phone: 513-556-2615
Email: john.emmert@uc.edu