Recognizing and emphasizing the Department’s need to strengthen ties between academic institutions, the entrepreneurial community, and the defense sector through funding, the letter specifically mentioned the National Security Innovation Network (NSIN) impact.

Recently, 38 graduate student council leaders highlighted our NSIN university engagement opportunities in a letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, III. Recognizing and emphasizing the Department’s need to strengthen ties between academic institutions, the entrepreneurial community, and the defense sector through funding, the letter specifically mentioned the impact of the National Security Innovation Network (NSIN). Through numerous innovative programs - from fellowships to hackathons - students can land internships, seek hiring opportunities, and even serve their country in solving national security problems in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Defense.

The Graduate student council leaders represent more than 800,000 students nationwide. These leaders also asked the Defense Secretary to keep in mind their priorities concerning global talent, research funding, hiring practices, and research security.

Of particular importance to the graduate student councils are building connections between academic institutions, the entrepreneurial community, and the defense sector. The National Security Innovation Network’s campus engagement opportunities through fellowships, hackathons, and others were the type of initiatives they want to see expanded.

“It is great to see such broad support from the student community for NSIN. It shows that NSIN programs are resonating with students and, more importantly, that there is widespread interest in public service for national security,” said Matt Merighi,

Read the full letter hosted on the MIT Graduate Student Council website.

Since October 1, NSIN expanded its University Program Directors (UPD) presence from eight to 15 throughout the country in 11 regions of its Network. Connect with one of our UPDs at the following institutions:

• University of Hawaii at Manoa
• South Dakota Mines
• Indiana University
• University of Washington
• University of Louisville
• San Diego State University
• The Ohio State University
• Arizona State University
• Washington University in St. Louis
• Syracuse University
• University of California, Berkeley
• Georgia Tech
• University of Virginia
• Florida A&M University
• University of Nebraska at Omaha

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About NSIN

The NSIN mission is to “build networks of innovators that generate new solutions to national security problems.” NSIN is headquartered in Arlington, VA, and has regional offices in 11 commercial innovation hubs throughout the United States. Through its headquarters, regional hubs, and embedded university partnerships, NSIN builds a national network of innovators and delivers programming that solves real-world, DoD problems through collaborative partnerships with non-traditional problem-solvers within the academic and early-stage venture communities.