The Trusted CI Fellows program is now accepting applications from professionals and post-doctoral researchers looking to build practical cybersecurity skills for science and engineering. Fellows benefit from online workshops, mentorship, networking, and attendance at the NSF Cybersecurity Summit with travel support included. The application deadline is June 30, 2026. Interested applicants can reach out to fellows@trustedci.org with any questions and apply here.
Over the next month, we will be highlighting this year's cohort of fellows.
As a professor at a regional state university, Nitin Sukhija, Professor and Director of Center for Cybersecurity and Advanced Computing at Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania, did not think he would be accepted into a program like the Fellowship Program with Trusted CI, the National Science Foundation (NSF) Cybersecurity Center of Excellence. However, at the 2025 Practice and Experience in Advanced Research Computing (PEARC) conference, he met Sustainable Horizons Institute (SHI) staff, who encouraged him to apply. The rest, they say, is history.
The Trusted CI Fellowship Program empowers members of the scientific community with basic knowledge of cybersecurity and an understanding of Trusted CI’s services. “I thought I could never apply, that the program was only open to researchers affiliated with the NSF or R1 or R2 institutions,” says Sukhija. “This program does justice to its goal of expanding the reach of cybersecurity awareness to all regions.”
Sukhija notes that at a regional university, there is a need for faculty who can explore mechanisms and current industry standards of securing large-scale data and computing cyberinfrastructure and then teach those to their students and other researchers.
“Given the dynamic nature of my core domain, to be able to teach well, I need to understand the latest topics and challenges,” says Sukhija, whose own research is focused on cyber-resilience and scientific computing. “Through the Trusted CI Fellowship Program, we meet experts face-to-face and discuss current topics and issues. These experts give us perspectives I might not be exposed to through my academic setting. I can see what is missing in my teaching or in my research.”
The Trusted CI Fellows Program has opened invaluable professional and intellectual doors for Sukhija, forging connections that have enriched his career. His participation has also served as a powerful example for his students, demonstrating what they themselves can achieve. Following his example, two of his students applied for the NSF Trusted CI Scholars Program for 2026–2027, and one was selected.
Sukhija continues to share his knowledge and expand his network beyond his own university. Since he became a Trusted CI Fellow, Sukhijia has given several talks, including a tutorial at a regional cybersecurity summit on quantum machine learning (QML) applied to cybersecurity education. His tutorial explored how making experiential modules can help students learn real-world scenarios and QML for cybersecurity.
“Through this program,” Sukhija says, “I had more exposure to research topics in seven months than going to conferences for five years.”
Written by Heather Bourbeau. Originally posted on the Sustainable Horizons Institute's website on June 9 and republished with permission.
