Call for Papers: Public Interest Cybersecurity

After last year's Call for Papers (CFP) success, the UC Berkeley Center for Long-Term Cybersecurity (CLTC) is thrilled to once again solicit proposals for public interest cybersecurity research.

Selected projects will receive a $2K honorarium plus subsidized travel and lodging for up to 2 researchers to present their work in person at the third annual Cyber Civil Defense Summit, held in Washington DC in June 2025.

Applications for this CFP close on Monday, February 3, 2025 at 11:59 p.m. PST

Research Paper Guidelines

We are interested in paper proposals that:

• Answer an empirical research question in the discipline area of Public Interest Cybersecurity
• Explore a topic that contributes to the cyber defense of under-resourced organizations (e.g. nonprofits, state and local governments, small utilities, hospitals, or school districts)
• Incorporate some type of quantitative data analysis (Not required, but proposals that do will receive special attention)
• Culminate in a final paper that is between 3,000 to 6,000 words long
• Aligns with the theme of this year’s Summit: Collaborative Advantage: Uniting Forces to Achieve More (Not required, but proposals that do will receive special attention) 

Need an example? Review the projects we funded last year to get a sense of the kind of work we’re looking for here.

What is Public Interest Cybersecurity?

Public Interest Cybersecurity is a field of research focused on studying the cybersecurity challenges and needs of public interest organizations that often fall through the cracks of cyber defense – namely nonprofits, state and local governments, small utilities, hospitals, and school districts. These organizations provide essential services that our society depends on, and cyberattacks cause them real-world harm including service disruptions, draining limited funds from core missions, and sowing mistrust in the communities they serve. These organizations often lack the budgets and cybersecurity expertise necessary to adequately secure and defend the technology utilized by their organization.

Eligibility

We will accept papers proposals that:

• Come from individuals, or small teams of researchers (1-4 individuals)
• Propose new, unfunded research; We also accept updates to ongoing work, but will not be as highly prioritized
• Come from US-based research teams; International research teams may apply, but will not be as highly prioritized due to budget limitations
• Come from researchers who are available to travel to Washington, D.C. in-person to present their work

Please Note: Sales pitches, advertisements, and for-profit product demos will be rejected.

A $2,000 honorarium, and travel and accommodation fees for up to 2 researchers for papers presented at the conference