Minerva Research Initiative Announces FY 2021 Funding Opportunities

The Minerva Research Initiative, the signature social science research program within the Department of Defense (DOD), has announced research opportunities for fiscal year (FY) 2021 and listed several target research topics for the program. Minerva aims to apply social science research to critical national security questions and inform broader DOD decision-making based on this research. The following nine topics have been listed as key areas of interest for research to address:

• Social Implications of Environmental Change
• Resource Competition, Social Cohesion, and Strategic Climate Resilience
• Security Risks in Ungoverned, Semi-Governed, and Differently-Governed Spaces
• Analysis of Foreign Influence Operations in Cross-Cultural Perspective
• Community Studies on Online and Offline Influence
• Computational Social Science Research on Difficult-to-Access Environments
• Social and Cultural Implications of Artificial Intelligence
• Humans and Outer Space
• Management and Information in the Defense Environment

Updates to the funding opportunities will be posted on the Minerva website as needed. Applications will be accepted through September 29, 2021. More information is available in the funding opportunity announcement.