Security Science Doctoral Training Centre

Broad ThemesCrime and terrorism threaten States, businesses and individuals; they increasingly exploit technology, sometimes more effectively than the security forces that oppose them. Our proposed Security Science DTC aims to promote fundamental science and research but to do so in a training environment that will provide a broader understanding of these threats; the pace at which they evolve, and the extent to which holistic responses are increasingly required if we are to contain them or to recover more rapidly from attack. We aim to prepare a future generation of security scientists better able to face these rapidly emerging new threats in crime and security. To do so this DTC will catalyse a truly interdisciplinary research effort that brings together multiple domains in security science to focus on the physical and cyber security of the State (borders and critical infrastructures, broadly construed, including financial, transport, energy, health and communication), business and the individual. Need and impact on the research landscape Science and technology have been utilized to protect against the threats outlined above, yet it is now widely accepted that security must be integrated, with a much greater awareness of the environmental operating contexts. This need has been expressed by governments (through policy papers and the creation of new bodies with interorganisational mandates such as the Serious and Organised Crime Agency), industry (through their increasing engagement with academic institutions to develop a new generation of security technologies that take into account factors such as behavioral response and ethical sensitivity) and research councils (eg. through their new 'Global Uncertainties: Security for all in a changing world' programme which cuts across all research council remits). The EPSRC is in an ideal position to invest in a national DTC where a critical mass of researchers can foster innovation and encourage and nurture an integrated systems approach that recognizes the importance of environmental context, human factors, and public policy to security solutions. This vision is based on the observation that the benefits of introducing advanced technologies into the security arena are significantly enhanced by engagement with the broader social, political and economic contexts within which those technological solutions apply. It is clear that disciplines as far apart as psychology and electronic engineering should come together in new ways to combat security threats in a holistic manner. This enhanced sensitivity to interconnectedness and multidisciplinary will lead to more effective science and encourage synergies to develop, increase knowledge transfer and facilitate engagement with end-users. Security is a challenging domain that drives adventurous research in a wide range of disciplines represented in this proposal (e.g. cryptography, radiation physics, nanotechnology). A DTC that helps secure the future supply of researchers with strong links to and appreciation of problems in the security context will help support the long term vigour of these disciplines. The DTC will also provide the UK with a hub to spark synergistic collaboration with other centres working in these areas such as the US Centres for Excellence (eg. National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START), University of Maryland). We further believe that this DTC in integrated security science will act as a prototype for future similar activities around the world. Ultimately, research associated with this DTC will help to position the UK as the international leader in the development of a uniquely equipped generation of security scientists, delivering innovative research to meet one of society's greatest challenges.