Eric Chan-Tin, Ph.D., Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science in the College of Arts and Sciences and Director of the Fellowship Office at Loyola University Chicago, has been awarded a $3.8 million CyberCorps® Scholarship for Service (SFS) grant from the National Science Foundation. 

The grant will enable Chan-Tin and the Department of Computer Science to establish the CyberRamblers’ Loyola University Chicago CyberCorps® Scholarship for Service program, which will provide 20 undergraduate students majoring in the Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Cybersecurity with scholarship, advising, and mentorship support at Loyola and career placement at a United States government agency following graduation. 

“These students don’t have to worry about how to pay for loan or working part-time – the scholarship covers tuition and provides a stipend,” explained Chan-Tin. “They will then go on to work for the federal government to bolster our national cybersecurity workforce and defend the nation’s infrastructure.” 

CyberCorps SFS seeks to train the next generation of cybersecurity professionals and strengthen the cybersecurity workforce at government organizations. By providing scholarship opportunities at universities like Loyola University Chicago, CyberCorps SFS seeks to address the shortage of cybersecurity professionals and emphasize the importance of diversity in the field.  

Over the next five years, four cohorts of undergraduate students will be recruited from Computer Science, Cybersecurity, Psychology, and Criminal Justice and Criminology to participate in the CyberRamblers program.  

“Interdisciplinary is key for cybersecurity,” explained Chan-Tin. “There are so many things to consider – focusing only on the technical aspects is not enough. Students need to think out of the box and need to think like an adversary. Working in a cohort with different disciplines also provides diverse opinions and backgrounds.” 

At Loyola, the student recruitment process will also emphasize recruiting and retaining members of underrepresented groups in cybersecurity careers to increase diversity in the next generation of cybersecurity professionals. 

In addition to two years of scholarship support, each CyberRambler scholar will receive advising and mentorship support from faculty in the Cybersecurity program to ensure their success and progress toward graduation. 

Under Chan-Tin's leadership, alongside co-PIs Drs. Mohammed Abuhamad, Yasin Silva, and Loretta Stalans, CyberRambler scholars will be involved in interdisciplinary research and education and receive training to develop the critical thinking, independence, teamwork, and technical knowledge needed to begin a successful career in cybersecurity.  

Upon graduation, each scholar will be prepared with the skills required to meet the nation’s cybersecurity workforce needs and the evolving challenges of the cyber landscape and begin their career with a U.S. government organization. 

“We are also excited to work with national agencies and labs such as the Argonne National Lab, CISA, the FBI, and others to place our students and to build relationships with these agencies.” 

This grant will not only provide funding to develop the excellence and rigor of the Cybersecurity program but also establish essential partnerships with government agencies, providing opportunities for both students and faculty at Loyola. 

“This grant is great for the future of the cybersecurity program and for the Center for Cybersecurity,” said Chan-Tin. “We can recruit more talented students to the program and keep growing the reputation of the program nationally.” 

Less than five years since Chan-Tin established the Center for Cybersecurity in 2019, it has been designated as a National Security Agency and Department of Homeland Security Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense and brought in over $6 million in external funding to work on cutting edge research and education.  

“Even though Loyola has a relatively young and small cybersecurity program, our students are already competing and outperforming our larger peers at national cybersecurity competitions.” 

Most notably, Loyola students were ranked 17th out of 95 universities at a Department of Energy competition in November 2023. 

Learn more about Chan-Tin, the B.S. in Cybersecurity program, and the Center for Cybersecurity.

About the College of Arts and Sciences

The College of Arts and Sciences is the oldest of Loyola University Chicago’s 15 schools, colleges, and institutes. More than 150 years since its founding, the College is home to 20 academic departments and 37 interdisciplinary programs and centers, more than 450 full-time faculty, and nearly 8,000 students. The 2,000+ classes that we offer each semester span an array of intellectual pursuits, ranging from the natural sciences and computational sciences to the humanities, the social sciences, and the fine and performing arts. Our students and faculty are engaged internationally at our campus in Rome, Italy, as well as at dozens of University-sponsored study abroad and research sites around the world. Home to the departments that anchor the University’s Core Curriculum, the College seeks to prepare all of Loyola’s students to think critically, to engage the world of the 21st century at ever deepening levels, and to become caring and compassionate individuals. Our faculty, staff, and students view service to others not just as one option among many, but as a constitutive dimension of their very being. In the truest sense of the Jesuit ideal, our graduates strive to be “individuals for others.”