Minerva Research Initiative | WHS AD FOA 21 01

Minerva Research Initiative (WHS AD FOA 21 01; CFDA 12.630) - Frequently Asked Questions

1) What is the Minerva Research Initiative?

The Minerva Research Initiative is a U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) grant program intended to strengthen the DoD's long-term understanding of social, cultural, political, and behavioral dynamics that matter for U.S. national security.

2) What is the main purpose of Minerva funding?

Its core purpose is to expand the Department's intellectual capital in the social sciences, improve the government's ability to anticipate and respond to future challenges, and build durable, candid working relationships between the DoD and the academic social science community.

3) Is Minerva meant for short-term operational problem solving?

No. Minerva is framed as basic research with strategic relevance. It emphasizes rigorous scholarship that can inform how national security environments evolve, rather than short-term, operational problem solving.

4) What is the funding opportunity identifier for this competition?

The funding opportunity is identified as WHS AD FOA 21 01, with CFDA 12.630.

5) What type of grant competition is this?

This is described as a discretionary grant competition in the science and technology / research and development category.

6) Who is this opportunity administered by?

The opportunity is under the Department of Defense.

7) How many awards are anticipated?

The source notice lists an anticipated total of about 12 awards.

8) What is the maximum award size (award ceiling)?

The award ceiling is listed as $1,000,000 per award.

9) Who is eligible to apply?

Eligibility is listed as unrestricted (open to any entity type), subject to any additional eligibility clarifications in the full announcement.

10) Are proposals expected to come only from universities?

No. The program brings together universities and other research institutions, including multi-institution and multidisciplinary teams.

11) Do applicants have to form a team to apply?

No. Applicants may submit proposals as single-investigator projects or as larger collaborative efforts.

12) When are teams especially encouraged?

The solicitation notes that teams may be important when expertise is distributed across departments or institutions.

13) How should a multi-institution or collaborative proposal be structured?

For team submissions, the structure must be clear: only one Principal Investigator (PI) is named as the responsible technical point of contact, and one institution serves as the primary award recipient for execution purposes.

14) What details must a team proposal include about partners and funding?

The proposal must spell out partner roles, how work is divided, and how funds are allocated, including any subawards. These details must align across the narrative and the budget.

15) What is expected of the research contribution in proposals?

Across submissions, the DoD expects the project to clearly articulate its basic research contribution.

16) What does Minerva expect from multidisciplinary projects?

Projects should show how the linked research questions create synergy across disciplines.

17) Are applicants limited strictly to the listed topics?

No. While the topic descriptions are meant to guide applicants, the solicitation emphasizes they are not intended to be restrictive and encourages innovative white papers and proposals that still fit within the overall frames of the nine topics.

18) How many research topics are included in this competition?

The competition is organized around nine research topics.

19) What is Topic 1: Social Implications of Environmental Change?

This topic focuses on how environmental shifts affect societies, governance, stability, and security-related outcomes.

20) What is Topic 2: Resource Competition, Social Cohesion, and Strategic Climate Resilience?

This topic looks at how scarcity, competition over resources, and resilience planning influence social cohesion and conflict dynamics.

21) What is Topic 3: Security Risks in Ungoverned, Semi-Governed, and Differently-Governed Spaces?

This topic examines how varying forms of governance, or lack of governance, create distinct risk environments.

22) What is Topic 4: Analysis of Foreign Influence Operations in Cross-Cultural Perspective?

This topic emphasizes how influence activities work across different cultural contexts.

23) What is Topic 5: Community Studies on Online and Offline Influence?

This topic links digital and real-world community dynamics to understand persuasion, mobilization, and narrative spread.

24) What is Topic 6: Computational Social Science Research on Difficult-to-Access Environments?

This topic supports methods and data approaches for settings where direct observation or conventional data collection is hard.

25) What is Topic 7: Social and Cultural Implications of Artificial Intelligence?

This topic addresses how AI changes institutions, norms, labor, legitimacy, and social behavior.

26) What is Topic 8: Humans and Outer Space?

This topic focuses on the social, organizational, cultural, and political dimensions of space-related human activity.

27) What is Topic 9: Management and Information in the Defense Environment?

This topic centers on decision-making, organizational processes, and information management relevant to defense contexts.

28) When was this opportunity created?

The opportunity was created May 6, 2021.

29) What was the original closing date listed in the notice?

The original closing date was September 29, 2021.

30) What should applicants keep consistent across the proposal package?

For collaborative submissions in particular, partner roles, division of work, and allocation of funds (including subawards) should be consistent and aligned across the proposal narrative and the budget.