Frequently Asked Questions about the Minerva Initiative
Will the Minerva Initiative be open to all faculty and students regardless of nationality?
As Secretary Gates indicated in his speech on 14 April, 2008, one of the key components of the Minerva Initiative is its commitment to complete openness and rigid adherence to academic freedom and integrity. As such, there are no restrictions on the nationality of faculty or students who are eligible to participate in any of the components of the Minerva Initiative.
What are the Department of Defense's (DoD’s) motives for going to universities as opposed to other potential performers, such as the intelligence community or Federally Funded Research and Development Centers?
The goals of the Minerva Initiative are to develop the Department of Defense’s social science intellectual capital and to improve the Department’s relationship with the academic social science community. The Department has a broad range of potential performers available for research work in these areas. Some of these provide highly valuable support to the Department in their respective areas. This initiative, however, is best-suited to academic researchers. By drawing upon the knowledge, ideas, and creativity of the nation’s universities, we intend to foster a new generation of engaged scholarship in the social sciences that seeks to overcome the challenges of the 21st century.
Who will make funding decisions and on the basis of what criteria? How does the Pentagon plan to evaluate applications for funding?
The Department of Defense is piloting complementary approaches for engaging the social science community. We believe that this strategy will enable the Department to solicit a broad range of proposals from the social science community and to leverage the expertise and infrastructures of a wide array of existing mechanisms for funding basic research.
One of those mechanisms is the Department of Defense Broad Agency Announcement (BAA). The Broad Agency Announcement is a well-established process that has been used to build strong relationships between the Department and the basic research community through programs such as the University Research Initiative (URI). The University Research Initiative has a long-standing, well-established reputation with the academic community for making funding decisions based on objective merit evaluation of proposals against the published criteria. The criteria for Minerva, as given in the initial Broad Agency Announcement, will form the basis for source selection. The applications received which are in full compliance with the requirements of the Broad Agency Announcement will be evaluated with the process given in the Broad Agency Announcement.
Another mechanism involves partnering with National Science Foundation (NSF) on a solicitation for proposals for Minerva funding for research initiatives that will respond to the national security issues highlighted by Secretary Gates. All project proposals submitted through the National Science Foundation solicitation will be reviewed using National Science Foundation's standard process of merit evaluation based on peer review, meaning proposals will be evaluated for their intellectual merit and broader impact.
In both cases, awards will be made upon the recommendation of evaluation panels composed of academically qualified experts in the relevant academic fields. Throughout these processes, experienced grants administrators will organize, administer, and coordinate the selections of proposals based on the recommendations of the academic evaluation panels, applicability to the requirements of the Broad Agency Announcement, and Federal rules for award of grants and contracts.
Why has the Pentagon singled out these topics as important areas of research?
Minerva is a basic research effort. It is not expected that basic research will pay any immediate dividends to the Department of Defense (DoD). These specific topics were picked less for their immediate utility than for the likelihood that they would constitute significant areas of interest over the long term for the United States.
America today faces more challenges of a more varied nature than at any time in our recent history -- from the rise of new powers to ethnic strife, disease, and poverty, from climate change to failed and failing states and the rise of violent extremism. These and other concerns have led to a renewed focus on the overall structure and readiness of our government to deal with the national security challenges of the 21st century. The Secretary believes that fostering a more robust relationship between the academic social science community and the Department of Defense (DoD) is one way to enrich our collective knowledge base and thereby to overcome these challenges.
Can I apply to both the DoD Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) Program Solicitation?
Submission to the Department of Defense (DoD's) Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) will not preclude any offerer from submitting a proposal to the National Science Foundation (NSF) solicitation. However, the Department of Defense (DoD) does reserve the right to avoid duplication and will not fund the same proposed research under both solicitations.
Have I already missed the deadline for applying?
White Papers for the Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) were due 25 July. Though strongly encouraged, submission of a White Paper is not required to submit a full proposal. Full proposals for the Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) are not due until 3 October.
Letters of Intent for the National Science Foundation (NSF) are due 30 September. Letters of Intent will not be evaluated by the National Science Foundation (NSF), but they are required if you plan to submit a proposal for a small or large award. Letters of Intent are not required for workshop proposals. Full proposals for large and small awards as well as for workshops are due 30 October.
Please follow the links below for additional information and Points of Contact (POCs) for the respective funding tracks. Current and future program announcements for the Minerva Initiative may be found on www.grants.gov using a basic search on the keyword "Minerva".
Department of Defense (DoD) Broad Agency Announcement (BAA)
National Science Foundation (NSF) solicitation
Is Minerva part of the Human Terrain System? What is the relationship between these two programs?
The Minerva Initiative is a completely separate effort from the Army’s Human Terrain System. Minerva is a university-based basic social science research initiative. By drawing upon the knowledge, ideas, and creativity of the nation’s universities, Minerva intends to expand the base of expertise that the Department uses to formulate national security policy and strategy.
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