Funded Projects
Research is integral to CCI's mission. The statewide initiative funds collaborative projects that reach across disciplines and geography to find new solutions.
Experiential Learning Funded Projects 2025
The Commonwealth Cyber Initiative awarded eight projects for a total of $725,000 to address cybersecurity-specific experiential learning needs across Virginia.
CCI+A Funded Projects 2025
Our Commonwealth Cyber Incubator + Accelerator (CCI+A) program supports market discovery and economic impact. We funded 10 projects for the 2005 CCI+A cohort.
AI for Cybersecurity and Cybersecurity for AI
The Commonwealth Cyber Initiative awarded 18 projects totaling $1,610,000 to CCI researchers at nine member universities as part of our research mission.
Experiential Learning in Cybersecurity 2024
The Commonwealth Cyber Initiative funded seven projects for experiential learning projects that provide Virginia students the skills and knowledge to launch careers in cybersecurity.
Comprehensive Cybersecurity
The Commonwealth Cyber Initiative funded 11 projects to address technology issues in cybersecurity, including those that limit or prevent people from using cybersecurity technology.
Research in Supply Chain Cybersecurity
The Commonwealth Cyber Initiative has funded several projects that advance the state of Supply Chain Cybersecurity. We awarded 10 grants to members of CCI's research network.
Experiential Learning Programs 2023
The Commonwealth Cyber Initiative has funded a new round of proposals for experiential learning projects that provide Virginia students with the essential skills and knowledge to launch successful careers in cybersecurity.
CyberArts and Design Program 2023
The Commonwealth Cyber Initiative has funded several projects that connect the CCI network with Virginia’s arts and design research community. This second version of the program, following a similar arts and design program in 2020, engages the community of researchers in arts and design to reimagine and depict the results of cybersecurity research either for scientific or creative arts purposes.
2023: Securing Interactions Between Humans and Machines
The Commonwealth Cyber Initiative Hub, as well as the Southwest Virginia and Northern Virginia nodes, funded 15 cross-disciplinary projects totaling about $800,000.
2022-2023 Experiential Learning Programs
The Commonwealth Cyber Initiative funded nine projects for a total of about $900,000 as part of its Experiential Learning Grant Call for Proposals.
CCI Cybersecurity Research Collaboration 2021 Program
CCI Regional Nodes funded six projects for a total of $750,000 in 2021.
Securing NextG 2021 Program
The Commonwealth Cyber Initiative funded nine projects for a total of $900,000 in late 2021 as part of its Securing NextG Call for Proposals.
Art and Design Research
The Commonwealth Cyber Initiative has funded several projects that connect the CCI network with Virginia’s arts and design research community. The CCI Building Bridges Arts and Design Collaboration Program engages the community of researchers in arts and design to reimagine and depict the results of cybersecurity research either for scientific or creative arts purposes.
CyberArts and Design Exhibit
The Commonwealth Cyber Initiative’s Building Bridges Arts and Design Collaboration Program funded five projects to connect Virginia’s arts and design community with cybersecurity researchers. Visitors explored these exhibits, which blend artistic sight, sound, and movement with cybersecurity, at the Taubman Museum of Art on Nov. 4-5, 2022.
Additional Funded Projects
The Commonwealth Cyber Initiative (CCI) has funded seven transdisciplinary projects for $450,000 to explore the role of cybersecurity in curbing the spread of disinformation and misinformation.
The 2021 funded projects are as follows:
Fast Deployment of AI-based Disinformation Detector
Machine Learning-based Disinformation Detection and Its Human Trust in Autonomous Vehicle Systems
Question-Under-Discussion Framework to Analyze Misinformation Targeting Security Researcher
The Commonwealth Cyber Initiative (CCI) has awarded $1 million in experiential learning projects across Virginia to help build the state’s vital cybersecurity workforce. The seven projects include researchers from George Mason University, Longwood University, Marymount University, Old Dominion University, Radford University, University of Virginia, Virginia Tech, and William & Mary.
The 2021 funded projects are as follows:
Cyber Risk Management and Analytics: An Interdisciplinary Approach in Experiential Learning
Cybersecurity Monitoring and Assurance Training Program for Safe and Secure Port Operations
Cyber Startups: Expansion of Successful Pilot Program for Novel Experiential Learning
Scalable, Systematic, and Holistic Approach to Internship Quality Enhancement
Virginia Integrative Experiential Workforce for Power System Communication and Cybersecurity (VIEW)
The Commonwealth Cyber Initiative has funded 22 research proposals for a total of $4 million, the initiative announced Dec. 18, 2020. Each of these projects represents a collaboration between faculty members at two or more universities in Virginia, including George Mason University (GMU), James Madison University (JMU), Old Dominion University (ODU), University of Virginia (UVA), Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), Virginia Tech (VT), and William & Mary. MITRE Corp. and the Global Center for Automotive Performance Simulation (GCAPS), an affiliated company of Virginia Tech, also are participating.
CCI has a Hub and Node structure––the CCI Hub coordinates the entire network and the four CCI Nodes focus on specific regions in Virginia. Projects are organized by node:
Earlier this year, the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative sought proposals for scalable pilot programs for experiential learning from member institutions across Virginia that would provide students with industry experience and enhance their skillsets to better prepare them to enter the cybersecurity workforce. The program supports Virginia’s Commonwealth Cyber Initiative that aims to create a statewide ecosystem of excellence in cyber-physical systems and serve as a catalyst for research, innovation, talent development, and commercialization of technologies at the intersection of security, autonomy, and data.
A panel of faculty from CCI member institutions reviewed the submissions and awarded funding for six experiential learning projects to faculty and their students across the state:
Cyber startups: Pilot program for novel experiential learning
Experiential learning through the Commonwealth STEM Industry Internship Program
AI-Security Living Lab Experience (AISLE)
Training in the Integration of Cyber Physical Systems and Security
Drone Racing Competition: Learning, Defending, and Attacking
Data poisoning and satellite reconnaissance: Bridging application and education