DoD announced today awards of $28.7 million in grants to 17 university-based faculty teams through the FY2021 Minerva Research Initiative to support research in social and behavioral science.
"We live in a dynamic world, and many of the challenges we face are social or have social elements to them," said Dr. Bindu Nair, Director, Basic Research Office in the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering. "The knowledge and methodologies generated from Minerva awardees have improved DoD's ability to define sources of present and future conflict with an eye toward better understanding the political trajectories of key regions of the world."
This initiative supports basic research that focuses on topics of particular relevance to U.S. national security. Through its network of faculty investigators, the Minerva Research Initiative also strengthens the Department's connections with the social science community and helps DoD better understand and prepare for future challenges, including National Defense Strategy priorities.
The 17 faculty awardees were selected from approximately 220 applicants in nine categories using a merit competition. In order to make foundational contributions to basic social science and align with the National Defense strategy, research proposals were peer-reviewed and selected for scientific merit, relevance, and potential impact in conference between the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering and the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy.
The Minerva Research Initiative is jointly administered by the Basic Research Office in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering and the Strategy and Force Development Office in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, in partnership with the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the Office of Naval Research.
