About

The Center for Security Research and Education (CSRE) is an interdisciplinary hub of security-related activity at Penn State, with support from 13 units across the University Park campus.

CSRE on University Park campus

Our Mission

CSRE’s mission is to enhance interdisciplinary research, teaching, and outreach relevant to the protection and preservation of individuals, infrastructure, institutions, and society.

“Interdisciplinary” is the keyword in our mission statement. Penn State is known globally for its expertise in many diverse areas, ranging from engineering to information science to social and life sciences. We partner with units across the university to advance security research, studies, and discussions.

Defining Security

Security encompasses many aspects, including economic, political, energy and natural resources, homeland, human, cyber, and environmental security. Threats and hazards can be internal or external, man-made or natural. As we see it, the concept of “security” can mean many things depending upon the context, actions, and actors and who is asking.

That is why CSRE’s interdisciplinary approach is essential—we draw on Penn State’s strengths across the University to address today’s security challenges.

Key Security Themes

CSRE’s top cross-cutting themes for 2022-2023 include:

  • Biosecurity
  • Climate Change & Environmental Security
  • NextGen Technologies
  • Shared Security Threats
  • Space/Counter-Space

As threats and circumstances change, we anticipate updating our focus areas and reassessing these themes each year.

In addition to our key themes, we recognize that each of our supporting units has core competencies that contribute to tackling security challenges through a multi-disciplinary approach. So while a core competency like artificial intelligence isn’t a key theme, we recognize that it plays a central role.