Securing the Future of Research: Trusted CI Wraps Pilot Cohort, Launches Second Round

Trusted CI has successfully completed its Research Cybersecurity Cohort pilot, designed to help research organizations address emerging research cybersecurity-related research security requirements (such as NSPM-33).

Assessing and Advancing Cybersecurity

The engagement focused on assessing participating organizations' cybersecurity programs using the Trusted CI Framework and evaluating their implementation of basic cybersecurity controls derived from the list of NSF Critical Controls in the NSF Research Infrastructure Guide [Section 5.3].

Each organization received a tailored “Research Cybersecurity Engagement Report” containing Trusted CI’s strategic and controls-level recommendations to support advancing their cybersecurity programs. The report also included implementation ratings for both a subset of the Trusted CI Framework Musts and the CIS Safeguards that map to the NSF Critical Controls.

The successful pilot cohort included the following organizations:

• Globus at the University of Chicago

• SafeInsights at Rice University

• University of Connecticut (UCONN) & UCONN Health

• US Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS)

Iterative Improvements

Though sufficient processes and training were already in place to launch the pilot, Trusted CI concurrently developed new research security components to integrate into the engagement. This included developing and modifying training materials, mapping the NSF Critical Controls to the CIS Controls, restructuring the engagement to include security controls assessments, and making significant revisions to the final engagement report.

Looking Ahead: The Next Cohort

Building on this success, Trusted CI began a second Research Cybersecurity cohort pilot engagement in July 2026. Participating members include:

• University of Colorado - Boulder

• Grambling State University

• University of Notre Dame

• Southwest Minnesota State University

• University of Utah

Trusted CI is excited to work alongside these higher education institutions to advance their cybersecurity programs, implement best practices, and gather valuable insights on how they are tackling emerging research cybersecurity requirements.

Get in Touch

For more information about the cohort program or our framework, please contact us at info@trustedci.org. 

Trusted CI Report on EDUCAUSE CPPC ’26

Trusted CI released a report on our full-day workshop at EDUCAUSE CPPC on building collaborative, institution-wide approaches to research cybersecurity. You can access the report here. 

The team also presented a public webinar on the workshop and this report. You can view the recording here. 

The team will also be presenting at the 2026 EDUCAUSE Annual Conference. If you have requests for future research security training topics, contact the team at info@trustedci.org.  

Trusted CI Releases NSF Critical Controls Mapping to the CIS Controls

Trusted CI released a resource mapping the NSF Critical Controls to the CIS Controls (v8.1). This resource was designed to help organizations understand and apply the NSF Critical Controls by highlighting the equivalent CIS Safeguards, alongside Trusted CI commentary. This mapping represents Trusted CI’s interpretation and translation of the NSF language used for each control.  

View the mapping  ➡️

Looking Ahead

Trusted CI plans to add mappings for other established cybersecurity standards, such as NIST SP 800-171, as well as case studies of how institutions are implementing these controls. If you have any questions or think you might be a good candidate for a case study on implementing an NSF Critical Control, please reach out to info@trustedci.org.