UAA GenCyber Academy
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.Sign up for the STEM outreach email list to stay up to date about all STEM programming for K-12 students offered by the UAA College of Engineering.
Do you have what it takes to join the next generation of cybersecurity professionals?
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
- What does the camp cost?The UAA GenCyber Academy is free.
- Who can participate? Any current 10th-12th grade students in Alaska.
- Do participants need prior coding or computer science experience? Prior experience is not required, though it is preferred.
- Do participants need to speak Russian, Mandarin Chinese, Farsi, Arabic, or Korean?No, though it is preferred.
- What language will the camp be taught in? The camp will be taught in English.
- Where will the camp be held? All meetings will be held at UAA’s campus in Anchorage. Additional details, including building and room number, will be provided for admitted participants.
- Are housing and transportation provided for participants? Housing and transportation are NOT provided. Participants must be able to commute to UAA’s campus for all meetings.
- How many students can participate? There is room for up to 30 10th-12th grade students.
- What if an applicant doesn’t get in? We will maintain a waitlist, and reach out to families on the waitlist if any admitted participants drop out of the program.
- Why are the NSA and NSF funding this camp? The supply of cybersecurity professionals has fallen far short of demand, with some studies estimating the gap being as large as 600,000 professionals needed to meet the nation’s demand. The NSA and NSF are funding GenCyber camps all across the country to help turn that around. The UAA GenCyber Academy is currently the only GenCyber program in Alaska.
Sponsors
The program is supported by the National Science Foundation, the National Security Agency, and GenCyber.
