UAA GenCyber Academy

GenCyber logo with green, yellow and white bars

Deadline Extended

The deadline to apply for the UAA GenCyber Academy has been extended to Friday, February 10th. Admitted participants will be announced by Friday, February 24th. 

About the GenCyber Academy

The University of Alaska Anchorage GenCyber Academy is a free, two-week summer camp for Alaskan high school students currently enrolled in the 10th-12th grades. The Academy strives to provide a broad educational background for students who are interested in pursuing cybersecurity as a career, with a focus on cybersecurity principles such as defining risks and understanding threat models; confidentiality, integrity, and availability (CIA); access structures; programming languages; databases, SQL, and steganography; and ethical considerations. 

Participants will learn:

  • How to think like an attacker and be an ethical hacker
  • About essential security technologies and technique
  • How to build secure systems
  • And about cybersecurity career pathways

All 10th to 12th grade students in Alaska are welcome to apply, though preference will be given to:

  • Students who speak Russian, Mandarin Chinese, Farsi, Arabic, or Korean
  • Students who would become first-generation college students if they choose to attend college after high school
  • Students who qualify for the National School Lunch Program
  • And students who have previous computer science or cybersecurity experience

Our goal is to inspire the next generation of cybersecurity professionals who will help to protect Alaska’s citizens and infrastructure. Our state is home to large military, government, and resource extraction sectors that require additional cybersecurity expertise. Alaska is also the only state in the nation with access to the Arctic, an increasingly important geopolitical sphere, and recent global events have reminded us that we must always be prepared. 

For these reasons, we want participants who are committed to bettering themselves and their community. We want participants who will work hard to gain the knowledge and skills they need to make Alaska a safer place. 

Important Dates

  • February 10, 2023
    Application Deadline
  • February 24, 2023
    Announce application results
  • April & May, 2023
    Pre-Camp Events
  • July, 2023
    Summer Camp
  • September, 2023
    Post-Camp Events

 

Contact Us

You can reach the program director, Joe Selmont, at 907-786-1910 or uaa_gencyber@alaska.edu
 
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Do you have what it takes to join the next generation of cybersecurity professionals? 

Apply Now

 


The UAA GenCyber Academy is funded by a grant from the National Security Agency (NSA) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) through the national GenCyber program, which strives to be a part of the solution to the nation’s shortfall of skilled cybersecurity professionals. Ensuring that enough young people are inspired to utilize their talents in cybersecurity is critical to the future of our country’s national and economic security as we become even more reliant on cyber-based technology in every aspect of our daily lives.

Schedule

The UAA GenCyber Academy will be held during the month of July, though there will be additional meeting dates during the spring and fall semesters. Participants must commit to attending all parts of the program in person, which will primarily be hosted at UAA's campus in Anchorage. 
 
The following dates are tentative. Dates will be finalized in the spring semester. 

Pre-Camp Events
Saturday, April 22, 10 am - 1:30 pm 
Saturday, April 29, 10 am - 1:30 pm
Saturday, May 6, 10 am - 1:30 pm
Saturday, May 13, 10 am - 1:30 pm

Summer Camp
Monday-Friday, July 17-21 & July 24-28, 9am-4pm

Post-Camp Events
Saturday, September 9, 10 am - 1:30 pm
Saturday, September 16, 10 am - 1:30 pm
Saturday, September 23, 10 am - 1:30 pm

 

Frequently Asked Questions

 

Sponsors

The program is supported by the National Science Foundation, the National Security Agency, and GenCyber.

NSF Logo
GenCyber logo
NSA Logo