2023 CCI Cyber Arts and Design Program

The Cyber Arts and Design Call for Proposals from the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative (CCI) aspires to unite researchers with the Arts and Design community from across the CCI Network.

CCI is building a commonwealth-wide ecosystem of innovation excellence at the intersection of cybersecurity, autonomous systems, and data. Our mission includes research, innovation, and workforce development.

The CyberArts program challenges the Arts and Design research community to reimagine and depict the results of cybersecurity research (in particular, research that occurs in CCI) for either scientific or creative arts purposes. We encourage transdisciplinary partnerships with CCI researchers, but will give priority to proposals led by researchers in the Arts and Design disciplines.

The program is funded by CCI and co-organized with the Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology at Virginia Tech, and the da Vinci Center for Innovation at Virginia Commonwealth University.

CCI held an exhibit of the 2020 CyberArts funded projects in November of 2022 at the Taubman Museum of Art in Roanoke, Va., and has similar plans for a museum exhibit for the 2023 funded program. 

CCI hosted an informational webinar featuring researchers who participated in our 2020 CyberArts funded projects. If you were unable to attend, you can watch the recording.

Watch a video of 2022's Cyber Arts and Design Exhibit opening night.

Proposal Guidelines

Eligibility

Who May Serve as PI: Researchers and faculty members at public institutions in CCI who are deemed eligible by their home institution to serve as a Principal Investigator (PI) on an external grant are eligible to apply.

Applications from under-represented groups are particularly welcome, as are applications from researchers who have not previously engaged with CCI.

Limit on Number of Proposals per Institution: There are no restrictions or limits.

Limit on Number of Proposals per PI:  An eligible researcher can participate in up to two proposals in this call, but can submit only one proposal as Principal Investigator.

Awards

We anticipate funding proposals with a budget that does not exceed $25,000 USD. Budgets should be proportional to the anticipated scale of impact. Indirect costs (IDC) are not allowed.

The PI is responsible for submitting periodic reports (every 6 months, and a final report) to CCI. Guidelines for format and content for periodic reports will be provided.

Successful applicants are expected to participate fully in CCI activities, including providing materials needed for reports, participation in CCI meetings, and responding to data-collection requests by CCI. All publications and presentations resulting from the grant should acknowledge support from the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative (CCI).

Some costs are not acceptable:

• Costs for developing and delivering undergraduate programs or courses.
• Scholarships for costs of attendance at institutions of higher education.

Schedule

Proposal Format

Proposals must use one-inch margins, 11-point font or larger (Arial or Helvetica) and single-line spacing. Follow this  outline: 

1. Title page (one page): Title of the proposed project, name, affiliation, and contact information for Principal Investigator (PI) and co-Principal Investigators (co-PIs), if any.

2. Proposed Project (up to three pages): To include:

• Short project description (200 to 300 words) written for a general audience.
• Description of the project: objectives, methodology, milestones, and timeline.
• Discussion of the alignment of the project with CCI objectives.
• Describe how the project will advance the understanding of cybersecurity.
• Anticipated outcomes and deliverables.
• Dissemination to researchers and/or the broader public, including presentation of the results of the project in public exhibitions.
• Social, economic, and/or cultural impact of the project, and in particular, impact on the Commonwealth of Virginia. 

3. Budget (one page): To include:

• A detailed budget and one-page justification must be included. Please confirm the ability to utilize all potentially awarded funds by May 31, 2024.
  
• Travel should be included to support the PI’s and team members’ attendance at the annual CCI Symposium and the CCI Cyber Arts Exhibit. Both events will take place in Virginia in 2024. Date and location to be determined.
• Indirect costs are not allowed..

4. Biographies: A biographical sketch (up to three pages for each investigator, using the National Science Foundation (NSF) format)

Proposal Submission

The proposal must be submitted to proposals@cyberinitiative.org no later than the close of business day (5 p.m. ET) on April 1, 2023. All proposals must be submitted as a single PDF document with the subject “CCI CyberArts 2023”.

Proposals and budgets should go through the appropriate approval process at the PI’s institution. For instance, many universities require researchers to include a proposal and budget that have been approved in the standard Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) pre-award procedure. Please consult the PI’s node director to confirm the process. 

CCI node directors' contact information:

• Central Virginia: Erdem Topsakal
  
• Coastal Virginia: Brian Payne
• Northern Virginia: Liza Wilson Durant
• Southwest Virginia: Gretchen Matthews

Evaluation Criteria

A committee will review the proposals and make funding recommendations. Evaluation criteria include:

• Strong intellectual merit related to cybersecurity and the arts.
• Relevance to the focus of the call (intersection between cybersecurity and Arts and Design).
• Strong broader impacts related to CCI’s mission lines of innovation, research, and workforce development.
• Tangible outcome from the project, such as a piece of art or performance.

Specific questions concerning this CFP and the requirements set forth herein should be directed in writing to proposals@cyberinitiative.org.