The University of Southampton has become the latest institution to formally launch its cybersecurity research centre as part of the Academic Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security Research (ACE-CSR) funding coordinated by GCHQ.
Led by Professor Vladimiro Sassone, the £50,000 grant will be used to research new cybersecurity technologies for use by the UK business and the Government.
A wider goal of the GCHQ programme is to increase the number of skilled graduates with the sort of cybersecurity skills that are still in short supply.
"Our well-integrated research portfolio links together aspects of internet privacy and trust, super-identity and access control, and secure hardware devices in one full circle," said Professor Sassone.
"Online activities underpin a growing range of day to day activities and there is a real need to ensure that users are supported in their online transactions and behaviours. Issues span the robustness of our national security and economic processes, to the security of digital information held by government and public bodies, and recognise the technical, legal, ethical and social responsibilities around our own personal privacy" Professor Sassone added.
Southampton University is already considered a leading centre for computing research.
The University of Bristol made a similar announcement a month ago, one of eight institutions included in the programme.
Others awarded ACE-CSR funding are Oxford University, Imperial College, Lancaster University, Queen's University Belfast, University College London, and the University of London Royal Holloway.
"The new Centre will give us the opportunity to further develop work we've been engaged in for quite some time in this crucial area of research - to foster innovation and provide top quality graduates in the field," said Southampton University vice chancellor, Don Nutbeam.
In September, GCHQ announced that it was setting up its own virtual cyber-research institute in conjunction with a number of institutions, some of which are have been awarded ACE-CSR funding.