The U. S. Department of Defense
Minerva Research Initiative competition for fiscal year 2012 is now open. Minerva is a university-based social science basic research program initiated by the DoD in 2008 to improve fundamental understanding of the social, cultural, behavioral, and political forces that shape regions of the world of strategic importance to the U.S.; in 2009 seven large university consortia and 17 smaller projects were awarded grants.
White papers and full proposals are solicited for basic research in the following areas:
- Strategic Impact of Religious and Cultural Changes
- Terrorism and Terrorist Ideologies
- Science, Technology and Military Transformations in China and Developing States
- National Security Implications of Energy and Environmental Stress
- New Theories of Cross-Domain Deterrence
- Regime and Social Dynamics in Failed, Failing, and Fragile Authoritarian States
- New Approaches to Understanding Dimensions of National Security, Conflict, and Cooperation
Proposals will be considered both for single-investigator awards as well as larger, multidisciplinary and multi-institution teams. The competition is open to institutions of higher education, including DoD institutions of higher education and foreign universities. Non-profit institutions and commercial entities are also eligible to compete as collaborators on university-led proposals.
Due to delays releasing the
Broad Agency Announcement (BAA), the DoD is extending the listed deadlines by two weeks (soon to be reflected in online documents):
- Deadline for white papers: Friday, September 16, 2011
- Deadline for full proposals: Tuesday, November 22, 2011
