August 20, 2026
Mizzou Engineering researchers are leading a project to promote AI-literacy with cybersecurity concepts among the next generation of scholars and professionals.
Mizzou Engineering researchers have received a three-year grant from the National Security Agency (NSA) to develop curriculum and advance artificial intelligence (AI)-literacy with cybersecurity concepts among high school students.
Their project, CIPHER-AIL: AI Literacy and AI-enabled Cyber Defense Curriculum Development for High School Cybersecurity Education, has received a three-year grant from the National Security Agency.
“CIPHER-AIL project will create and share an AI-powered cybersecurity curriculum for high school students that can be used in many different school settings,” said Curators’ Distinguished Professor Prasad Calyam, one of the researchers leading the project.
“We will develop lessons, datasets, assessments and teacher resources that combine cybersecurity topics with AI skills,” Calyam said. “The curriculum will use real-world scenarios such as supply chain management, healthcare, finance, and hands-on data activities, and it will be delivered through a web browser so schools can easily access it regardless of their technology resources.”
The University of Missouri-Columbia will lead the project with coalition partners Southeast Missouri State University and George Mason University.
Interested teachers and other potential partners are invited to contact Prasad Calyam at calyamp@missouri.edu and Suchithra Rajendran at rajendrans@missouri.edu for further information.