The UK government has allocated up to £8 million to fund postgraduate training for budding cyber security experts.

Universities are invited to enter bids to establish one of two Centres for Doctroal Training (CDT) focusing on cyber security expertise. The plan is a joint initiative between the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, GCHQ and the Office of Cyber Security and Information Assurance, a division of the Cabinet Office.

"If the UK is to achieve its growth ambitions and maintain its reputation for world class capability in cyber security, it is vital that we look to discover, develop and nurture the UK’s next generation of doctoral-level cyber security experts," said universities and skills minister David Willetts.

"The Centres for Doctoral Training are a key component of achieving the skills blend the UK needs and I would like to encourage novel responses to the call that reflect well on the innovation of the discipline as a whole’."

Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude added: "Academia has a vital role to play in fostering our future cyber security talent, and we have therefore committed significant investment to deliver the first two Centres of Doctoral Training in Cyber Security. We believe these centres will make an important contribution to further enhancing our world-class cyber security academic and research community here in the UK."

Up to £8 million of funding will be available for a period of seven years. Each doctoral course is expected to last four years.

The plan comes shortly after a report from the parliamentary Intellience and Security Committee advised that the UK government took a more aggressive stance in cyber space. It suggested that UK military should ‘interfere’ with the networks of its enemies in order to further its interests.