Just as the Cold War gave rise to new ideas and fields of study such as game theory and Kremlinology, the challenges facing the world today call for a broader conception and application of national power that goes beyond military capability.

The Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) is interested

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in receiving proposals for the Minerva Research Initiative (http://www.minerva.defense.gov), a university-led defense social science program seeking fundamental understanding of the social and cultural forces shaping U. S. strategic interests globally.

The Minerva Research Initiative (Minerva) emphasizes questions of strategic importance to U. S. national security policy.

It seeks 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 a general interest area and four (4) special interest areas, all listed below.

Innovative white papers and proposals related to these research areas are highly encouraged.

Detailed descriptions1 of the interest areas can be found in Section IX, “Specific Minerva Research Initiative Interest Areas.” I.

General Interest Area:
Sociality, Security, & Interconnectivity II.

Special Interest Area 1:
Understanding the Social Impact of Autonomy III.

Special Interest Area 2:
Societal Resilience & Sociopolitical (In)stability IV.

Special Interest Area 3:
Power & Deterrence for Shaping Operations V.

Special Interest Area 4:
Military Cyber Defense 1 The detailed descriptions are intended to provide the proposer a frame of reference and are not meant to be restrictive.

Proposals will be considered both for single-investigator awards as well as larger teams.

A team of university investigators may be warranted because the necessary expertise in addressing the multiple facets of the interest areas may reside in different universities, or in different departments of the same university.

The research questions addressed should extend across a fairly broad range of linked issues where there is clear potential synergy among the contributions of the distinct disciplines represented on the team.

Team proposals must name one Principal Investigator as the responsible technical point of contact.

Similarly, one institution will be the primary recipient for the purpose of award execution.

The relationship among participating institutions and their respective roles, as well as the apportionment of funds including sub- awards, if any, must be described in both the proposal text and the budget.

The Minerva Research Initiative is a multi-service effort.

Ultimately, however, funding decisions will be made by OSD personnel, with technical inputs from the Services