NSF SECURE Center

The NSF SECURE Center was established in 2024 with a 5-year $50 million cooperative agreement award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and is led by the University of Washington. The National Center provides support, guidance, tools, resources, and integration functions for five Regional Centers. These Regional Centers engage and empower the research community to create, develop, implement, maintain, and share tools to safeguard research and discoveries. Together, we define the problems, design the solutions, and iteratively work together to use these resources to make security-informed decisions and safeguard U.S. research. Six institutions of higher education lead five SECURE Regional Centers throughout the U.S. SECURE Midwest – University of Missouri Northeast Regional Center – Northeastern University Southeast Regional Center – Emory University Southwest Regional Center – Colorado State University and Texas A&M University West Regional Center – University of Washington Under the expert guidance from the National Center, each SECURE Regional Center will establish and operate a “co-creation hub” and facilitate a co-design process with subject matter experts from the Expert and Values Areas. Expert Areas – Mississippi State University Expert Areas contribute expertise related to sensitive and high-risk research areas; threat types, geopolitical analysis, international relations, policy & best practices, training, community inquiries, data analytics. Values Areas – Notre Dame University, Hoover Institution at Stanford University, University of Michigan, University of Cincinnati, MindCette, and Impulsion Consulting Values Areas engage with emerging research institutions, small- & medium-sized businesses, non-profit research institutions, and role-based and agency-based tailored support. The Values Team addresses burden reduction, balance of open and secure research, balancing science with political climate, and supporting research security processes.