FY25 Minerva Research Initiative University Research Program

Funding Agency:

Department of Defense

RFP# and Website:

Description:

A. SHORT DESCRIPTION OF FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

Minerva’s University Research program aims to support innovative basic research projects that contribute to the advancement of social science and provides new methods and understandings on social and behavioral questions of security and defense-related interest.

B. BACKGROUND

Minerva aims to improve DoD's basic understanding of the social, cultural, behavioral, and political forces that shape regions of the world of strategic importance to the U.S. The research program seeks to:

• Leverage and focus the resources of the Nation's top universities;
• Define and develop foundational knowledge about sources of present and future conflict with an eye toward better understanding of the political trajectories of key regions of the world; and
• Improve the ability of DoD to develop cutting-edge social science research and foreign area and interdisciplinary studies that is developed and vetted by the best scholars in these fields.

Minerva brings together universities, research institutions, and individual scholars and supports interdisciplinary and cross-institutional projects addressing specific topic areas determined by the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

C. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION/OBJECTIVE

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 six (6) 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 Appendix B: Minerva Research Topics of Interest. Topic 1:	Societal Cohesion and Conflict
Topic 2:	Advancing Influence Measurement(s)
Topic 3:	Arctic at the Polar Crossroads
Topic 4:	Cultural Resilience, Climate, and Human Security in Oceania
Topic 5:	Social Impact of Technological Change

Topic 6:

Deterrence and Competition across Military and Civilian Spheres

Awards:

Various; Award Floor: $1,000,000

Anticipated Funding Amount:

Award Ceiling: $30,000,000

Letter of Intent:

Please contact the program director

Preliminary Proposal Due Date(s):

Stage-1: White Paper submission (via email to osd.minerva@mail.mil AND the “Appendix B: Minerva Research Topics of Interest” technical point of contact) o Deadline: 29 November 2024 at 1500 Eastern

Full Proposal Submission Deadline:

Stage 2 – Full Application submission (via Grants.gov) o Deadline: 28 February 2025 at 1500 Eastern

Contacts:

Technical questions should be directed to:

Dr. David Montgomery, Basic Research Office

Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (OUSD(R&E))

E-mail: David.w.montgomery61.civ@mail.mil

For all other questions on this NFO, please contact Jonathan Bertsch at jonathan.e.bertsch.civ@mail.mil.