Get Funding for Social Science Research - DoD Grants

The Office of Naval Research (ONR) is interested in receiving proposals for the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD)-led Minerva Research Initiative (http://minerva.dtic.mil), a DoD-sponsored, university-based social science research program initiated by the Secretary of Defense. This program is a multi-service effort. Ultimately, however, funding decisions will be made by OSD personnel, with technical inputs from the Services. The program focuses on areas 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, research institutions, and individual scholars and supports multidisciplinary and cross-institutional projects addressing specific topic areas determined by the Department of Defense. The Minerva Research Initiative 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 the four (4) topics and ten (10) subtopics listed below.

Detailed descriptions of the topics can be found in Section VIII, “Specific Minerva Research Initiative Topics.” The detailed descriptions are intended to provide the proposer a frame of reference and are not meant to be restrictive. Innovative proposals related to these research topics are highly encouraged. White papers and full proposals are solicited which address the following topics (described in Section VIII of this solicitation): (1) Identity, Influence, and Mobilization(1-A) Culture, identity, and security(1-B) Belief formation and influence(1-C) Mobilization for change(2) Contributors to Societal Resilience and Change(2-A) Governance and rule of law(2-B) Resources, economics, and globalization(2-C) Additional factors impacting societal resilience and change(3) Power and Deterrence(3-A) Power projection and diffusion (3-B) Beyond conventional deterrence(4) Innovations in National Security, Conflict, and Cooperation (4-A) Analytical methods and metrics for security research(4-B) Emerging topics in conflict and securityProposals 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 topics 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.

FULL ANNOUNCEMENT is available on the Grants.gov website by scorlling to the top of the synopsis page and clicking on the "FULL ANNOUNCEMENT" box.