Minerva Research Initiative’s (Minerva) Defense Education and Civilian University Research (DECUR) Partnership

The Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) is interested in receiving applications for Minerva’s DECUR Partnership. The DECUR Partnership aims to develop collaborative basic research partnerships between PME Institutions and Civilian Research Universities by supporting fundamental scientific research that improves the capacity of security-related basic social science research and education. Building upon the success of Minerva’s university research awards, the DECUR Partnership aims to pair civilian university researchers with PME faculty to facilitate collaborative research in the fundamental understanding of the social and cultural forces shaping U.S. strategic interests globally. OSD is particularly interested in projects that align with and support the upcoming 2022 National Defense Strategy.

Minerva emphasizes questions of strategic importance to U.S. national security policy, and the DECUR partnership aims to increase the Department’s intellectual capital in the social sciences and improve its ability to address future challenges and build bridges between the Department and the social science community. Minerva brings together universities and other research institutions around the world and supports multidisciplinary and cross-institutional projects addressing specific interest areas determined by the Department of Defense. The Minerva program aims to promote research in specific areas of social science and to promote a candid and constructive relationship between DoD and the social science academic community.

The Minerva Research Initiative competition is for research related to nine (9) topics listed below. Innovative white papers and applications related to these research areas are highly encouraged. Detailed descriptions of the interest areas—which are intended to provide a frame of reference and are not meant to be restrictive—can be found in Section XI.C of the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NFO) document, “Specific Minerva Research Initiative Topics.”

Topic 1: Social Implications of Environmental Change

Topic 2: Resource Competition, Social Cohesion, and Strategic Climate Resilience

Topic 3: Security Risks in Ungoverned, Semi-Governed, and Differently-Governed Spaces

Topic 4: Analysis of Foreign Influence Operations in Cross-Cultural Perspective

Topic 5: Community Studies on Online and Offline Influence

Topic 6: Computational Social Science Research on Difficult-to-Access Environments

Topic 7: Social and Cultural Implications of Artificial Intelligence

Topic 8: Humans and Outer Space

Topic 9: Management and Information in the Defense Environment

For complete information related to this NFO, please see the Related Documents Tab.

For any questions regarding this NFO, please contact Dr. Fiona Butcher, OUSD(R&E): fiona.d.butcher.fn@mail.mil.

All U.S.-based civilian universities and Professional Military Educational (PME) institutions associated with the Air Force, Navy/Marine Corps, and Joint PME may submit applications under this NFO. Due to Army policy, Army-affiliated PME institutions are not eligible for the DECUR Partnership.Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Minority Institutions (MIs) are encouraged to apply.Teams are encouraged and may submit applications in any and all areas. At minimum, there should be a civilian university Principal Investigator (PI) and a PME co-PI. Non-profit institutions and commercial entities may be included on a university-led team as subawardees only, receiving funding for their efforts accordingly. Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs), including Department of Energy National Laboratories, are not eligible to receive awards under this NFO. However, teaming arrangements between FFRDCs and eligible principal applicants are allowed provided they are permitted under the sponsoring agreement between the Government and the specific FFRDC. Regardless the size of the team, however, the maximum award amount is $400,000 distributed evenly over a two-year period.