We are currently soliciting bids for universities to volunteer to host MSW 9 in Spring 2021.

The Midwest Security Workshop (MSW) series brings together researchers in computer security and privacy from throughout the Midwestern United States. The MSW Steering Committee is in the process of selecting the site for the 2021 edition of the workshop. To ensure fair consideration for all Midwest universities, we would like to announce a new lightweight bid process for schools that are potentially interested in hosting.

What are the benefits of hosting the workshop? MSW is a high-impact, low-overhead event that provides great visibility for your security research to your department, university, and region. The workshops in the "modern era" of MSW have all boasted over 200 attendees, the vast majority of whom are visitors to campus. By hosting, you'll create opportunities for young security researchers and help us to grow this fantastic community.

What goes into hosting the workshop? MSW is free to attend and does not have proceedings, meaning that very little infrastructure is required to host a successful event. Your specific responsibilities as local organizers will include securing facilities, necessary AV equipment, and catering. As organizing committee members, you'll also work with non-local organizers from other universities to plan and facilitate the workshop's programming (e.g., panels, poster sessions, speed mentoring), manage registration, solicit donations, and complete other tasks required for a successful event.

What does hosting the workshop cost? Because MSW is a free event, hosting will entail working with your institution to secure in-kind support for facilities and possibly staff support. The recent iterations of MSW have cost less than $5,000 in direct costs to host (mostly catering costs), which has been covered by a mix of donations and local host funding. Recent host institutions have also covered the overtime costs for administrative, custodial, and AV staff to be present for the workshop. If you are interested in bidding you or your institution should be prepared to contribute at least $5,000 for catering costs in the worst case (from your institution or through partners identified in part with the assistance of your institution). That said, we are actively working to transition to other funding sources (e.g., corporate sponsorships) to alleviate this burden.

Application Deadline: We encourage institutions that are planning to submit a bid to informally let us know by email (midwestsec8@gmail.com) of their intention to bid by February 1st, 2020. We request that formal bids (the materials described below) be submitted by email to midwestsec8@gmail.com by March 1st, 2020. We expect to announce decisions by April 1st, 2020 so that we can announce the subsequent year's host at the workshop.

Application Materials: An application consists of a brief document (about 1-2 pages of text) that contains the following information:

• Organizers: List your names, email addresses, websites, and describe your team’s past exposure to the Midwest Security Workshop (e.g., past attendance). Please limit the number of organizers on the bid to 3.
• Facilities Description: Outline a tentative plan for the event that supports a ~200 seat auditorium space for plenary sessions, a multi-purpose space suitable for poster sessions and meals, and 5 or more rooms that can support smaller breakout discussions.
• Travel Considerations: Please identify commercial airports that attendees could use to reach your university as well as any other notable travel factors (e.g., trains, shuttles from a nearby major city).
• Amenities, Attractions, and Other Considerations: Please include any other information about your university or town that may be of interest to attendees, or would otherwise help us to make a decision about the next MSW location. Some examples might include: lodging options or nearby dining/entertainment that could draw attendees to your university.
• At least one letter or email from a department head, institute head, or other administrative official outlining institutional support for the bid. If applicable, the letter should express the organizational unit's intent to offer financial support such as in-kind use of facilities, administrative or technical staff, etc.

Evaluation Criteria:

• Logistical feasibility of hosting MSW on your campus.
• Institutional support for hosting MSW on your campus.
• Your organizing team's level of involvement with past MSWs.
• Likelihood of strong attendee turnout should you host MSW on your campus. Easily accessible locations (e.g., central, nearby airport) are preferred, but not required.
• Consistent with our goal of creating professional development opportunities for security researchers at all levels, we will prioritize bids that prominently feature junior faculty organizers. It is ok to have non-junior organizers, though!
• While the boundaries of the "Midwest" are ambiguous, at this time we are only considering bids from universities in the following states: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin.