{"id":80,"date":"2023-12-30T02:03:20","date_gmt":"2023-12-30T02:03:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.isi.edu\/proxy-sphere\/?page_id=80"},"modified":"2026-04-16T00:22:46","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T00:22:46","slug":"collaborate","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.isi.edu\/proxy-sphere\/collaborate\/","title":{"rendered":"Collaborate"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<p>We look forward to collaborating with the cybersecurity and privacy research and education communities to inform our development of SPHERE and to help them learn about and adopt this new research infrastructure as part of their work.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<a role=\"heading\" id=\"fl-accordion--label-0\">RESEARCHERS<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<button type=\"button\" id=\"fl-accordion--icon-0\" aria-expanded=\"false\" aria-controls=\"fl-accordion--panel-0\"><i>Expand<\/i><\/button>\n\t\t\t\t\t<p>Please take our brief and anonymous <a href=\"https:\/\/forms.gle\/GsBaKVbtkhoLmoih7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Needs Survey<\/a> to tell us about your experimentation needs.\u00a0 Or you can contact us via our <a href=\"https:\/\/sphere-project.net\/contact\/\">Contact page<\/a>.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<a role=\"heading\" id=\"fl-accordion--label-1\">CALL FOR REES<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<button type=\"button\" id=\"fl-accordion--icon-1\" aria-expanded=\"false\" aria-controls=\"fl-accordion--panel-1\"><i>Expand<\/i><\/button>\n\t\t\t\t\t<p>Reproducibility is a cornerstone of scientific progress, yet it remains a challenge in computer science-particularly in systems, networking, cybersecurity, and privacy research. By working together as a community, we have an opportunity to improve the reusability and transparency of research artifacts, making it easier for others to build on prior work.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The <b>SPHERE research infrastructure<\/b> aims to accelerate this progress by soliciting <b>Representative Experimentation Environments (REEs)<\/b> for integration into SPHERE. To support this effort, selected REE contributors will receive <strong>paid virtual internships<\/strong> to port their work to SPHERE, ensuring broader accessibility and long-term impact. In addition, SPHERE may hire virtual interns to port existing research artifacts that are already selected for integration, even if the intern is not the original author.<\/p>\n<h2><b>About SPHERE<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/sphere-project.net\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">SPHERE<\/a> is an open-access research infrastructure designed to support cybersecurity and privacy experiments. It provides a testbed for deploying and evaluating experimental systems under realistic conditions, featuring diverse hardware to meet a wide range of research needs-covering nearly 90% of today&#8217;s cybersecurity and privacy publications. SPHERE&#8217;s resources include general and embedded compute nodes with trusted hardware, PLCs and IoT devices, programmable switches and NICs, and GPU-equipped nodes.<\/p>\n<p>SPHERE aims to transform cybersecurity and privacy research into a highly integrated, community-wide effort by providing a common, rich, and representative research infrastructure. By porting Representative Experimentation Environments (REEs) to SPHERE, researchers can enhance reproducibility, reusability, and impact-ensuring their work benefits the broader research community.<\/p>\n<h2><b>What is an REE?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>A <b>Representative Experimentation Environment (REE)<\/b> is a research artifact that enables realistic experimentation in a specific subfield of cybersecurity and privacy. &#8220;Representative&#8221; means realistic and capturing real-world conditions. Experimentation may occur entirely within a testbed or involve interaction with the Internet, real users, or both.<\/p>\n<h3><b>Examples of REEs:<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Code replicating an AS-level Internet topology for network security research.<\/li>\n<li>Measurement code for Internet censorship detection that can be run inside or outside a testbed.<\/li>\n<li>A survey instrument designed to study user privacy reasoning on social networks.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Eligible Submissions<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>To be eligible, an REE must:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Relate to applied cybersecurity or privacy technologies.<\/li>\n<li>Consist of one or more of the following:\n<ul>\n<li>Open-source software<\/li>\n<li>Open or reusable datasets<\/li>\n<li>User study materials (e.g., questionnaires, codebooks for qualitative analysis)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Be part of previously published academic or industry research.<\/li>\n<li>Enable full reproduction of at least one set of results from the original publication.<\/li>\n<li>Have been reused (with or without modifications) in at least two publications by researchers other than the original author(s) or demonstrate strong potential for reuse.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Submission Guidelines<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>Submit your REE via <a href=\"https:\/\/forms.gle\/ZP6L4mQhNGcLG88s5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">this form<\/a>. Submissions are accepted on a rolling basis throughout the year.<\/p>\n<p>Applicants may indicate their preferred start term (spring, summer, or fall). To be considered for a <b>summer internship<\/b>, submissions must be received by <b>April 15<\/b>.<\/p>\n<p><b>Questions<\/b>: If you have any questions or need additional information, please send email to <strong>apply [AT] sphere-project [DOT] net<\/strong>. <\/p>\n<h2><b>Selection Criteria<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>A review committee of SPHERE researchers will evaluate submissions based on:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Expected benefits to SPHERE users.<\/li>\n<li>Timeliness and relevance of the REE.<\/li>\n<li>Ease of integration into SPHERE.<\/li>\n<li>Diversity of research areas supported by the REE.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Funding &amp; Support<\/b><\/h3>\n<p>Students porting their own REEs or existing REEs to SPHERE will receive funding as <strong>virtual interns<\/strong> for up to <strong>three months (summer or academic year)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Stipend:<\/b> $5,000\/month (paid directly to interns).<\/li>\n<li><b>Support:<\/b> Our team will provide day-to-day assistance in the porting process.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>We look forward to your submissions and to strengthening reproducible research in cybersecurity and privacy!<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<a role=\"heading\" id=\"fl-accordion--label-2\">STUDENT INTERNSHIPS<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<button type=\"button\" id=\"fl-accordion--icon-2\" aria-expanded=\"false\" aria-controls=\"fl-accordion--panel-2\"><i>Expand<\/i><\/button>\n\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>SUMMER 2026 STUDENT INTERNSHIP APPLICATIONS NOW ACCEPTED!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>SPHERE offers in-person internships at USC Information Sciences Institute (Los Angeles), Northeastern University (Boston), and the University of Utah (Salt Lake City) for undergraduate and graduate students seeking a hands-on blend of research and development experience. Interns work closely with researchers and engineers on real systems, tools, and infrastructure that support cutting-edge research in systems, networking, and cybersecurity and privacy.<\/p>\n<p>Internships are eight weeks long, running from June 1 to July 24, 2026. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis and must be submitted by March 1. If you are interested, please complete the application at <a href=\"https:\/\/forms.gle\/SWEJCFmgP7GpGta7A\">https:\/\/forms.gle\/SWEJCFmgP7GpGta7A<\/a>. Questions may be sent to apply [AT] sphere-project [DOT] net.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.isi.edu\/proxy-sphere\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/57\/2026\/01\/SPHERE-2026-Internship-Infrastructure.pdf\">SPHERE Infrastructure Internship @ USC-ISI in Los Angeles, CA<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.isi.edu\/proxy-sphere\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/57\/2026\/01\/SPHERE-2026-Internship-CPS.pdf\">SPHERE CPS Internship @ U. Utah in Salt Lake City, UT<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.isi.edu\/proxy-sphere\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/57\/2026\/01\/SPHERE-2026-Internship-Infrastructure.pdf\">SPHERE IoT Internship @ Northeasten U. in Boston, MA<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t<a role=\"heading\" id=\"fl-accordion--label-3\">OTHER RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<button type=\"button\" id=\"fl-accordion--icon-3\" aria-expanded=\"false\" aria-controls=\"fl-accordion--panel-3\"><i>Expand<\/i><\/button>\n\t\t\t\t\t<p>Do you run a shared research infrastructure that has unique cybersecurity needs, not amenable to off-the-shelf solutions? Reach out to us to connect with top researchers who can collaborate with you on SPHERE to design custom solutions that meet your needs.<\/p>\n<p>Do you run a shared research infrastructure, used by cybersecurity and privacy researchers? Would you like your resources to become temporarily or permanently part of SPHERE? Reach out to us, we&#8217;d love to explore opportunities like this.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<a role=\"heading\" id=\"fl-accordion--label-4\">GRADUATE STUDENTS &amp; FACULTY<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<button type=\"button\" id=\"fl-accordion--icon-4\" aria-expanded=\"false\" aria-controls=\"fl-accordion--panel-4\"><i>Expand<\/i><\/button>\n\t\t\t\t\t<p>Let us help you learn how to use SPHERE as part of your work. Reach out with your questions, comments, and feature requests via our <a href=\"https:\/\/sphere-project.net\/contact\/\">Contacts page<\/a>.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<a role=\"heading\" id=\"fl-accordion--label-5\">TEACHERS<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<button type=\"button\" id=\"fl-accordion--icon-5\" aria-expanded=\"false\" aria-controls=\"fl-accordion--panel-5\"><i>Expand<\/i><\/button>\n\t\t\t\t\t<p>Teaching cybersecurity or privacy? Please try our education modules. There are homework assignments for undergraduate and graduate classes, demonstrations for K-12 students, and capture-the-flag exercises. Reach out to us with questions via our <a href=\"https:\/\/sphere-project.net\/contact\/\">Contacts page<\/a>. We love to support education with SPHERE!<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<a role=\"heading\" id=\"fl-accordion--label-6\">ARTIFACT EVALUATION COMMITTEES<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<button type=\"button\" id=\"fl-accordion--icon-6\" aria-expanded=\"false\" aria-controls=\"fl-accordion--panel-6\"><i>Expand<\/i><\/button>\n\t\t\t\t\t<p>SPHERE is happy to support artifact evaluation for any conference that welcomes cybersecurity and privacy papers. SPHERE was used to support artifact evaluation for NDSS 2025 and will be used to support artifact evaluation for CCS 2025 and S&amp;P 2026.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Guidelines for using SPHERE<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Artifact evaluation committees (AECs) can use SPHERE to evaluate <b>any <\/b>artifact, even if it is unrelated to cybersecurity and privacy research.<\/p>\n<p>There are three ways SPHERE can support AECs. AEC chairs should consider these and let us know which mode works best for their needs.<\/p>\n<p><strong>1. HotCRP integration<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We have integrated SPHERE support into the HotCRP. You can install the code from <a href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/STEELISI\/hotcrp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/github.com\/STEELISI\/hotcrp<\/a> and follow the instructions from README. At most, one allocation per paper is allowed &#8211; the allocation may contain one or more resources (e.g., VMs), and they may be connected or not. All interaction with SPHERE is via the HotCRP interface. AE accounts are anonymous on SPHERE, even though they can be fully set up in the HotCRP.<\/p>\n<p><strong>2. SPHERE creates accounts for AEC chair<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The AEC chair can ask artifact evaluators for their resource needs, collect them in a Google doc, and then share them with the SPHERE team. We will create the\u00a0 accounts, allocate the needed resources, and put the information into the document. The AE accounts are anonymous.<\/p>\n<p><strong>3. Artifact evaluators creates their own accounts<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Artifact evaluators can create their own accounts on SPHERE. If they want to remain anonymous to the SPHERE team they can use the following fake information during account creation:<\/p>\nFirst name: &lt;CONF NAME&gt;<br \/>\nLast name: Evaluator<br \/>\nUsername: &lt;CONFNAME&gt;XYZ\u00a0 (XYZ can be chosen by the evaluator so accounts are unique)<br \/>\nE-mail: &lt;CONFNAME&gt;<a href=\"mailto:XYZ@sphere-testbed.net\">XYZ@sphere-testbed.net<\/a>\n<p>For example an evaluator for NDSS 2025 could use the following information:<\/p>\nFirst name: NDSS2025<br \/>\nLast name: Evaluator<br \/>\nUsername: ndss2025icecream<br \/>\nE-mail: <a href=\"mailto:ndss2025icecream@sphere-testbed.net\">ndss2025icecream@sphere-testbed.net<\/a>\u00a0\n<p><strong>Archiving evaluated artifacts<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>SPHERE aims to increase reproducibility of cybersecurity and privacy research. We would like to archive the artifacts that were successfully evaluated, so that they can be reused by other researchers on SPHERE. Please email <a title=\"mailto:contact@sphere-project.net\" href=\"mailto:contact@sphere-project.net\" data-outlook-id=\"2b2d0723-743a-4367-a453-3e3a575dea2d\">contact@sphere-project.net<\/a> when an artifact is ready to be archived.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We look forward to collaborating with the cybersecurity and privacy research and education communities to inform our development of SPHERE and to help them learn about and adopt this new research infrastructure as part of their work. RESEARCHERS Expand Please take our brief and anonymous Needs Survey to tell us about your experimentation needs.\u00a0 Or&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":260,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"news_source":"","news_author":"","external_news_link":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-80","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Collaborate - SPHERE<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.isi.edu\/proxy-sphere\/collaborate\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Collaborate - SPHERE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We look forward to collaborating with the cybersecurity and privacy research and education communities to inform our development of SPHERE and to help them learn about and adopt this new research infrastructure as part of their work. 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