Antiterrorism Research Center

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has chosen the University of Southern California as the site for the first of what are expected to be several science and technology “centers of excellence” for antiterrorism research. The USC center, called the Homeland Security Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events, is slated to receive $12 million during the next three years. USC was selected from 70 applicants.

Randolph Hall, chairman of the university’s School of Engineering, and Detlof von Winterfeldt of the School of Policy, Planning, and Development, will jointly head the center. Researchers will “address both the targets and means of terrorism, with emphasis on protecting the nation’s critical infrastructure systems, such as electric power, transportation, and telecommunications,” according to a USC statement.

USC researchers, who have extensive experience in how to respond to natural disasters such as earthquakes, will involve the school’s advanced computer modeling and cyber-security experts in the center. Representative Christopher Cox (R-CA), chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, applauded the selection of USC, saying, “The USC team is uniquely qualified to enhance homeland security as a result of the depth of its talent in risk and economic analysis of major disaster, advanced computation, and emergency response.”

Charles McQueary, the DHS undersecretary for science and technology, is establishing a handful of such centers to concentrate on different aspects of terrorism (see Physics Today, July 2003, page 32 ).