University partnerships
Build Industry-Ready Automotive Cybersecurity Talent
Automotive manufacturers are hiring for a capability most degrees do not yet teach. We partner with universities to close that gap — co-designed curriculum, enabled faculty, real ECU hardware and credentials employers already recognise.
What we provide
Seven Ways We Support Your Institution
Partnerships are modular. Most begin with curriculum and faculty enablement, then extend into labs, credentials and research as the programme establishes itself.
Curriculum Development
Co-designed automotive cybersecurity modules that slot into an existing engineering or computer science degree without displacing accredited content.
What you receive
- Module specifications mapped to learning outcomes
- Lecture material, assessments and marking rubrics
- Alignment to ISO/SAE 21434 and UNECE R155 terminology
- Annual refresh as regulation changes
Capability Framework levels supported
- Awareness
- Compliance
Faculty Enablement
Train the people who will teach it. Faculty work through the same practitioner-led material and labs as industry cohorts, then receive teaching support.
What you receive
- Practitioner-led faculty cohorts
- Teaching notes and lab facilitation guides
- Direct access to AutoSec instructors during term
- Faculty certification pathway
Capability Framework levels supported
- Compliance
- Leader
Automotive Cyber Labs
A teaching lab built on production-representative ECUs and real bus hardware, so students graduate having touched the systems they will secure.
What you receive
- Lab specification, hardware list and build support
- Exercise sets with instructor solutions
- Remote access option for distributed cohorts
- Ongoing exercise updates from the AutoSec lab estate
Capability Framework levels supported
- Secure Developer
- Validation
- Offensive
Student Certifications
Industry-recognised credentials students can earn alongside their degree, at academic pricing, sitting the same assessments as professional candidates.
What you receive
- Foundation through Expert credentials for enrolled students
- Academic pricing and cohort scheduling
- Exams sat under university invigilation
- Digital badges students can publish on graduation
Internships
Structured placements with AutoSec and partner organisations, scoped so a student contributes real work rather than shadowing.
What you receive
- Scoped placement briefs with defined outcomes
- Practitioner supervision and review
- Assessment evidence usable for academic credit
- Pipeline into graduate roles with partner employers
Capability Framework levels supported
- Secure Developer
Research Programs
Joint research on live automotive security problems, with access to lab hardware, practitioner review and routes to publication.
What you receive
- Co-supervised MSc and PhD topics
- Access to the AutoSec lab estate for experimental work
- Practitioner review before submission
- Joint publication and conference support
Capability Framework levels supported
- Offensive
- Leader
Industry Mentorship
Students paired with practising automotive security engineers — the fastest way to close the gap between an academic answer and an industry one.
What you receive
- One-to-one mentor matching by specialism
- Structured mentoring cadence across a term
- Portfolio and career review
- Guest lectures and industry seminars
Capability Framework levels supported
- Validation
- Leader
Academic capability journey
Where Your Students Sit on the Industry Framework
The same six-level framework industry uses to assess its own engineers. Mapping your degree onto it lets you state graduate capability in terms employers already understand.
- Level 1Awareness
Cybersecurity Awareness
Introduce automotive attack surfaces, the regulatory landscape and security-by-design principles to engineers joining a cybersecurity programme.
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What this level covers
- Threat landscape overview
- Connected vehicle architecture basics
- Introduction to ISO 21434 and UNECE regulations
- Programs
- Automotive Cybersecurity Foundations
- Certification
- Foundation
- Level 2Compliance
Compliance Practitioner
Implement and audit compliance frameworks across the automotive product lifecycle, from CSMS establishment through type-approval evidence.
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What this level covers
- ISO 21434 lifecycle requirements
- CSMS establishment and audit
- UNECE R155/R156 type approval
- AIS 189, 190 and 230 requirements
- Programs
- ISO 21434 and CSMS SpecialistTARA Specialist
- Certification
- Practitioner
- Labs
- AutoSec TARA Lab
- Level 3Secure Developer
Secure Developer
Develop production-grade secure automotive software and embedded systems, with a verifiable chain of trust from boot to communication.
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What this level covers
- Secure ECU development lifecycle
- Automotive crypto stack
- Secure Boot, HSM, SecOC and Secure Flash
- Hardware security features of automotive microcontrollers
- Programs
- Secure ECU DeveloperSecure Automotive Architect
- Certification
- Professional
- Labs
- AutoSec Secure Development LabAutoSec Crypto Lab
- Level 4Validation
Security Validation Specialist
Validate security controls through systematic testing, threat analysis and architecture assessment that stands up to independent review.
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What this level covers
- Security validation methodologies
- Automotive TARA execution
- Architecture security review
- Fuzz testing fundamentals
- Programs
- TARA SpecialistAutomotive Fuzz Testing ExpertSecure Automotive Architect
- Certification
- ProfessionalExpert
- Labs
- AutoSec TARA LabAutoSec Fuzz Testing Lab
- Level 5Offensive
Offensive Security Expert
Conduct authorised offensive security assessments on automotive systems, from wireless entry points through to hardware-level exploitation.
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What this level covers
- Automotive penetration testing
- CAN and Automotive Ethernet attack vectors
- Red team operations
- Hardware-based exploitation
- Programs
- Automotive Penetration Testing ExpertAutomotive Fuzz Testing Expert
- Certification
- Expert
- Labs
- AutoSec Red Team LabAutoSec Fuzz Testing Lab
- Level 6Leader
Cybersecurity Leader
Own automotive cybersecurity strategy, governance and organisational capability, with the technical depth to hold engineering to account.
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What this level covers
- CSMS governance and KPIs
- Security organisation design
- Supplier security management
- Executive reporting and risk acceptance
- Programs
- Certified Automotive Cybersecurity Expert (CACE)ISO 21434 and CSMS Specialist
- Certification
- Master
- Labs
- AutoSec TARA LabAutoSec Secure Development LabAutoSec Crypto LabAutoSec Red Team LabAutoSec Fuzz Testing Lab
Programme structure
Four Years, Then a Capstone That Employers Respect
How the material sequences across a degree — from vehicle architecture literacy in Year 1 to a practitioner-assessed capstone on real hardware.
An indicative structure for a four-year engineering degree. Sequencing is adapted to your accreditation constraints and existing module map during curriculum design.
Year 1
Foundations and threat literacy
Students learn how a vehicle is actually built electronically, and why regulation now treats cybersecurity as a type-approval condition.
Modules
- Vehicle E/E architecture and in-vehicle networks
- Automotive threat landscape and case studies
- Introduction to ISO/SAE 21434 and UNECE R155
AutoSec programs
- Automotive Cybersecurity Foundations
- Awareness
- Foundation
Year 2
Compliance and risk assessment
The management-system view: how obligations become processes, and how risk is assessed in a way an assessor will accept.
Modules
- Cyber Security Management Systems
- Threat Analysis and Risk Assessment (TARA)
- Regulatory mapping — R155, R156 and the AIS series
AutoSec programs
- ISO 21434 and CSMS Specialist
- TARA Specialist
- Compliance
- Practitioner
Year 3
Secure development and architecture
Implementation year. Students build the controls themselves on lab hardware rather than describing them in an essay.
Modules
- Secure boot and hardware security modules
- Automotive cryptography and key management
- Secure onboard communication and architecture
AutoSec programs
- Secure ECU Developer
- Secure Automotive Architect
- Secure Developer
- Professional
Year 4
Validation and offensive security
Students learn to break what they have built — structured penetration testing and fuzzing, with findings written for engineers.
Modules
- Automotive penetration testing
- Protocol fuzzing and validation
- Security assessment and reporting
AutoSec programs
- Automotive Penetration Testing Expert
- Automotive Fuzz Testing Expert
- Validation
- Offensive
- Expert
Capstone
Industry-supervised project
A supervised project on real hardware, co-assessed by AutoSec practitioners and university faculty, defended before a panel.
Modules
- Industry-scoped project brief
- Practitioner and faculty co-supervision
- Panel defence and portfolio submission
AutoSec programs
- Certified Automotive Cybersecurity Expert (CACE)
- Leader
- Master
Engagement tiers
Start Where It Makes Sense
Five cumulative tiers. Institutions commonly enter at Advisory or Curriculum Partner and progress as the programme proves itself.
Advisory Partner
Start with direction, not commitment
Industry advisory input into your existing curriculum, so your programme reflects what employers are actually hiring for.
Includes
- Curriculum review against industry requirements
- Advisory board participation
- Annual regulatory landscape briefing
- Typical commitment
- 12 months
- Best for
- Institutions scoping a move into automotive cybersecurity
Curriculum Partner
Teach it properly
Co-developed modules plus faculty enablement, so your own academics can deliver automotive cybersecurity with confidence.
Includes
- Everything in Advisory
- Co-designed module specifications and materials
- Faculty enablement cohort
- Annual content refresh
- Typical commitment
- 2–3 years
- Best for
- Departments embedding automotive security into a degree
- Most chosen
Lab Partner
Put students on real hardware
A teaching lab specified, built and maintained alongside the curriculum, with exercise sets refreshed from the AutoSec lab estate.
Includes
- Everything in Curriculum Partner
- Lab specification and build support
- Exercise sets with instructor solutions
- Remote lab access for distributed cohorts
- Typical commitment
- 3 years
- Best for
- Institutions with practical assessment requirements
Certification Partner
Graduates who arrive credentialed
Students earn AutoSec credentials alongside their degree, sitting the same assessments as professional candidates under university invigilation.
Includes
- Everything in Lab Partner
- Student certification pathway at academic pricing
- University-invigilated examinations
- Digital badges on graduation
- Typical commitment
- 3 years
- Best for
- Programmes competing on graduate employability
Strategic Partner
A joint centre of capability
A long-term relationship spanning curriculum, labs, credentials, research and mentorship, with joint positioning in the automotive sector.
Includes
- Everything in Certification Partner
- Joint research programme and co-supervision
- Industry mentorship and internship pipeline
- Co-branded positioning and joint publication
- Typical commitment
- 5 years
- Best for
- Institutions building a recognised automotive security centre
Why it works
What Each Stakeholder Gets
A partnership only lasts if it serves the institution, the academics teaching it, the students taking it and the employers hiring them.
For the University
Differentiated programmes and a defensible employability story.
- A specialism few institutions can currently offer
- Industry-validated curriculum for accreditation review
- Graduate employability evidence for rankings and recruitment
- Joint positioning with an automotive security specialist
For Faculty
Current material and practitioner contact, without building it alone.
- Teaching material maintained as regulation changes
- Practitioner-led enablement and certification
- Lab exercises with instructor solutions
- Co-supervision and joint publication routes
For Students
Graduate with hardware experience and a credential employers recognise.
- Hands-on time on production-representative ECUs
- Industry credentials earned alongside the degree
- Mentorship from practising security engineers
- Internship and graduate pipeline access
For Industry
A supply of graduates who need less remediation on day one.
- Graduates fluent in ISO 21434 and UNECE terminology
- Reduced onboarding time for security-relevant roles
- Early visibility of strong candidates through internships
- Research access to academic capacity on live problems
Research collaboration
Joint Research on Live Industry Problems
Co-supervised MSc and PhD work with access to the AutoSec lab estate, practitioner review before submission, and routes to joint publication.
Automotive Security
Attack surface evolution across connected, autonomous and electrified platforms, and the defensive patterns that hold up in production.
Secure ECU
Chain-of-trust design, secure boot performance under automotive timing budgets, and hardware security module integration.
Automotive Cryptography
Key hierarchies at production scale, certificate lifecycles for OTA and V2X, and post-quantum readiness for fifteen-year vehicle lifetimes.
UNECE Regulation
How R155 and R156 are interpreted across type-approval authorities, and where the evidence expectations diverge in practice.
ISO/SAE 21434
Method research on TARA rigour, attack feasibility rating consistency and lifecycle cybersecurity assurance.
AIS Series
The Indian regulatory pathway — AIS 189, 190 and 230 — and how it compares with UNECE obligations for global platforms.
Student certification path
Graduate Already Credentialed
Students progress the same five-level ladder as industry candidates. Certification Partners run examinations under university invigilation at academic pricing.
Foundation
AutoSec Certified Foundation
4 weeks
Practitioner
AutoSec Certified Compliance Practitioner
6 weeks
Professional
AutoSec Certified Professional
8 weeks
Expert
AutoSec Certified Expert
10 weeks
Master
AutoSec Certified Master — CACE
16 weeks
Common questions
Partnership FAQ
What programme directors and heads of department ask before a partnership is scoped.
- How long does it take to integrate automotive cybersecurity into our degree?
- An advisory engagement can inform your next curriculum review within a term. A co-developed module set typically takes two to three terms from scoping to first delivery, because it has to pass your own accreditation and quality processes as well as ours. Institutions usually run faculty enablement in parallel, so academics are ready before the first cohort arrives rather than learning a term ahead of the students.
- Do we need to buy our own lab hardware?
- Not necessarily. Lab Partners receive a specification, hardware list and build support if you want an on-campus teaching lab, but distributed and smaller cohorts often start with remote access to the AutoSec lab estate instead. Many institutions begin remote and build their own lab once the module is established and student numbers justify the capital case.
- Can students earn industry certifications alongside their degree?
- Yes. Certification Partners can offer AutoSec credentials from Foundation through Expert at academic pricing, with examinations sat under university invigilation. Students take the same assessments as professional candidates — the credential means the same thing on graduation as it does mid-career, which is what makes it worth putting on a CV.
- Who delivers the teaching — your instructors or our faculty?
- Your faculty, in almost every case. Faculty Enablement puts your academics through the same practitioner-led material and labs as industry cohorts, then supports them with teaching notes, lab facilitation guides and term-time access to AutoSec instructors. We supplement with guest lectures and industry seminars rather than replacing your teaching staff.
- Is this only relevant to automotive engineering degrees?
- No. The material lands equally well in computer science, electronics, embedded systems and cybersecurity programmes — those students already have the technical foundation, and what they lack is the automotive context: bus technologies, safety constraints, fifteen-year service lifetimes and the regulatory regime. Curriculum design adapts the entry point to the degree it sits in.
Partner With AutoSec Academy
Start with a conversation about your existing programme. We will tell you honestly where automotive cybersecurity fits — and where it does not.