Evaluation of the Minerva Research Initiative (2020) / Chapter Skim
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5 Direction and Vision of the Minerva Program
5 Direction and Vision of the Minerva Program
Pages 79-92
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From page 79... ...
Also discussed is the importance of developing benchmarks to enable continuous monitoring and evaluation. MAKING BETTER USE OF MINERVA RESEARCH AND RESEARCHERS Over the past decade, Minerva grants have produced a substantial body of research in a variety of areas of importance to national security.
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From page 80... ...
Those activities can stimulate further research that broadens both the body of knowledge and the expertise of researchers. Going forward, it is essential to develop a systematic outreach and dissemination plan that is based on a carefully considered strategy to ensure that Minerva researchers are exposed to policy discussions and that the knowledge gained through Minerva research can benefit the broader national security community.
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From page 81... ...
. Minerva researchers have provided briefings for a range of entities, including the United States Central Command, the United States Special Operations Command, the White House National Security Advisor, the National Security Agency, and the United Nations Security Council.
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From page 82... ...
interested in integrating basic research insights into their work Interacting with other 26 38 30 5 DoD staff Interacting with national 22 37 34 7 security policy staff in other federal agencies Interacting with policy 13 29 50 8 makers in the legislative branch (e.g., through congressional testimony, meetings with staff or members) NOTES: Sample size = 76; Grantee survey Q7: "For each of the following activities, did the Minerva program greatly increase, somewhat increase, or not increase at all your opportunities?
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From page 83... ...
Simultaneously with the development of the grantee database, it is essential for the Minerva staff to begin establishing both formal and informal mechanisms for interaction between grantees and DoD staff, as well as others who could learn from the research. Policy staff have expressed an interest in being able to reach out to a group of Minerva researchers with expertise on a specific topic and obtain input relatively quickly.
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From page 84... ...
Professional military education institutions represent an opportunity to reach additional stakeholders, particularly future leaders in the national security community. Several years ago, DoD attempted to introduce grants targeted at such institutions as part of Minerva, launching the Minerva Research for Defense Education Faculty program.
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From page 85... ...
. Another 17 percent of the responding grantees said they had received additional funding through some other DoD funding stream, while 41 percent said they had received funding from a non-DoD source for research building on their Minerva work.
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From page 86... ...
The vision for the Minerva program is to "support social science for a safer world" by improving "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." To accomplish its goals, the program "brings together universities, research institutions, and individual scholars and supports interdisciplinary and cross-institutional projects addressing specific topic areas determined by the Secretary of Defense." There is clear support for Minerva's vision among those involved with the program, as well as the experts from the broader national security community who provided input to the committee. It is also clear that some challenges have been associated with implementing the program's vision, particularly with respect to balancing the characteristics of basic research with more immediate policy needs, balancing the needs of the service branches and the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD)
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From page 87... ...
At the same time, DoD needs to carefully consider the program's priorities with respect to addressing immediate versus longer-term research needs, serving DoD-wide versus service branch interests, and emphasizing scientific merit versus policy relevance. DoD also needs to consider the implications of these priorities for the program's organizational structure and other features of its implementation.
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From page 88... ...
Thus, despite widespread familiarity with DoD grants generally, university administrators of sponsored research have only limited familiarity with Minerva grants. Researchers tend to learn about the Minerva program by word of mouth.
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From page 89... ...
This is the case particularly among anthropologists because the American Anthropological Association's high-profile involvement in debates about the program when it was first launched attracted a great deal of attention within that field. However, this also appears to be the case among political scientists, even though there is much more overlap among the areas of specialization of political scientists and the Minerva topics funded relative to the field of anthropology, and several prominent political scientists have been PIs on Minerva grants.
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From page 90... ...
RECOMMENDATION 5.7: The Minerva program office should develop and implement a plan for further broadening engagement with the Minerva Research Initiative based on strategically identi fied objectives with respect to the target groups of researchers to engage and systematic steps for how to reach and engage them. Engaging early-career researchers is particularly important to support the continued success of the program and cultivate the next generation of academics with interest in conducting social science research relevant to national security.
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From page 91... ...
. The Minerva Research Initiative's Peace and Security fellowships are awarded to graduate students working on research related to their dissertation.
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From page 92... ...
DEVELOPING BENCHMARKS FOR CONTINUOUS MONITORING AND EVALUATION As the Minerva program approaches its tenth year, it will be important to develop benchmarks for ongoing monitoring and evaluation of the program, based on the priorities identified by DoD staff. In specifying these benchmarks, however, the Minerva program office needs to ensure that striving to reach one benchmark does not create an unanticipated incentive that might compromise achieving other goals of the program.
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