In September of 2022, New York University and the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) announced a historic partnership that would, among other things, “lay the groundwork for a joint presence in New York City—KAIST’s first campus in the United States.” On February 23 and 24, representatives from both institutions gathered at 370 Jay Street to begin mapping out common areas of interest and expertise, and to discuss special initiatives in four technical areas.

The first day was devoted to discussions on three of these common areas: software and system security, privacy-preserving computing, and human aspects of security (e.g. biometrics, mis/disinformation, privacy of IoT, wireless, legal).  A fourth topic, “the intersection of NextG Wireless/Robotics and CyberSecurity,” was explored on the second morning. Each topic was addressed in a session organized by one representative from each institution. On NYU’s side, that included several faculty and staff from the Abu Dhabi campus, as well as the New York campus.

The workshop ended with a roundtable discussion that looked to “identify synergies, collaborations, and promotion.” Out of these discussions came a full list of potential participants across all the institutions involved, a list of possible funding sources for the work ahead, and planning for several new educational initiatives. The latter would include an undergraduate minor in cybersecurity that would be awarded by KAIST based on NYU courses, a “Build Your Own Masters” MA program with a privacy engineering specialization, and a dual degree Ph.D. The partnership will eventually also include outreach activities that build on existing programs like CSAW, and leverage industry contacts, such as the Cyber Fellows Advisory Council and participants in the  Cybersecurity Lecture.

Planning for joint KAIST-NYU programs will continue on the KAIST campus in Daejeon, South Korea on May 15 and 16.