Georgia Tech's Center for International Business Education and Research (GT CIBER) was recently awarded a $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education, renewing its status as one of 34 national resource centers in international business funded by the federal government.

 Schools compete every four years for the funding, which will enable GT CIBER to pursue collaborative global business projects through 2014. Tech titled its grant application "Innovative, Sustainable and Secure: Education and Research as Keys to Global Growth and Competitiveness."

  Administratively located within Georgia Tech College of Management, GT CIBER serves as a catalyst to integrate international business into the curriculum and works to ensure the long-term international competitiveness of the United States through support of research, business education initiatives, and corporate outreach activities.

College of Management Dean Steve Salbu says, "I have numerous friends who have headed up CIBERS around the country, and they all sing the praises of GT CIBER for its excellence, contributions, and achievements over the years.  I couldn’t be happier to see this excellent center continue its fine work."

 The CIBER network links the manpower and technological needs of the United States business community with the international education, language training, and research capacities of universities across the country. 

Congress created CIBER centers in 1988 under the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act in order to increase America's international competitiveness and understanding. GT CIBER was started in 1993.

For the first time, Georgia State University won funding for its own CIBER in 2010. "With the successful application of Georgia State, Metro Atlanta joins a small circle of U.S. cities – Los Angeles, Miami, and Philadelphia – that host two national centers at different universities with varying mandates," note strategic management professor John McIntyre, executive director of GT CIBER.