CANADA, [NOVEMBER 5, 2025] – The National Cybersecurity Consortium (NCC) has announced a slate of successful project applications as part of its second annual Call for Proposals. A few faculty members of the University of Waterloo’s Cybersecurity and Privacy Institute (CPI) have been awarded over $2.4 million for the following research and development cybersecurity projects: 

• Dr. Sebastian Fischmeister and (non-CPI member) Dr. Michael Mayer | MATSEC:  Materials-based Cybersecurity in Electronics, in collaboration with Palitronica and Wade Antenna

• Dr. Meng Xu and Dr. Sihang Liu | Securing LLM Agents Against Malicious or Vulnerable Tools

• Dr. William (Alec) Cram | May We Have Your Attention Please? Exploring How Employee Attention Influences Cybersecurity Behaviour, in collaboration with the University of Delaware and TU Darmstadt

This year, the NCC has dedicated $20.9 million in funding as part of its commitment to the Government of Canada’s Cyber Security Innovation Network program. In addition to the University of Waterloo’s successful project application, funds have been distributed to 31 projects put forth by Canadian organizations representing academia, private institutions, and the not-for-profit sector. The NCC’s Call for Proposals program supports projects that include:  

• Research and development projects with Technology Readiness Levels (TRL)1-6 via the design and implementation of innovative cybersecurity technologies, advancing the “state-of-the-art”, and supporting studies into emerging cybersecurity issues; 

• Commercialization of new technology with TRL 7-9, developing products and services that address cybersecurity challenges in critical infrastructure protection, human-centric cybersecurity, network security, software security, and privacy protection; and 

• Provide and build opportunities for training, upskilling, and reskilling of cybersecurity professionals across myriad disciplines.   

Visit the NCC website for a complete list of successful 2025 Call for Proposal projects, and to learn more about the NCC. 

About the National Cybersecurity Consortium   

The National Cybersecurity Consortium is a pan-Canadian network that supports the advancement of the Canadian cybersecurity ecosystem through research and development, commercialization, and training by driving collaboration among universities; private industry; not-for-profit organizations; provincial, territorial, and municipal governments; and other key cybersecurity stakeholders.