Eleven students were selected for the inaugural cohort.
NORFOLK, Va. — Eleven Old Dominion University students started their semester Monday as part of a new scholarship program.
The university was the first of just 14 universities nationwide to be selected to offer the CyberAICorps Scholarship for Service, funded by the National Science Foundation. It funds two or three years of education for students studying cybersecurity and artificial intelligence. In exchange, the students are expected to work for a government agency for the same amount of time.
“The fact that we have a dedicated school of cybersecurity shows how important this is for ODU and for the region,” Daniel Takabi, director of ODU’s School of Cybersecurity, told 13News Now.
Virginia has the highest number of cybersecurity job openings in the country. Takabi said many of those are located in Hampton Roads.
“[That’s] because of the presence of the defense contractors and the defense industry and other industries,” he explained.
A previous version of the scholarship existed at ODU, before the NSF changed the requirements to include AI training and courses. Takabi said the university has been working to implement teaching the technology of the future for years.
He said, “We’ve been offering courses in AI and cybersecurity for over five years… before ChatGPT came out.”
University leaders also say the scholarship points to the need for AI training in many sectors of the workforce, especially national cybersecurity.
“What we’ve seen in the industry is that it’s already happening with a great speed and will probably speed up in the coming months and years,” Takabi said.
Old Dominion University also offers undergraduate degrees and graduate concentrations in AI cybersecurity.
