The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine will carry out a decadal survey on the social and behavioral sciences (SBS) in areas relevant to national security.
The Academies are seeking suggestions for individuals to consider for the study committee, and are particularly interested in recommendations for those with expertise in one or more of the following areas: social and behavioral science (e.g., psychology, neuroscience, sociology, economics), national security, intelligence analysis, allied professional disciplines (such as law, business), and interdisciplinary approaches to science. Self-nominations are welcome.
To make a nomination, please send the person¹s name, affiliation, contact information, area(s) of expertise, and a brief statement on why the person is relevant to the study topic.
Nominations should be sent to SBSDecadalSurvey@nas.edu no later than October 7, 2016.
Final decision about committee membership rests with the President of the National Academy of Science. In developing a slate, care is given to ensuring that the committee includes appropriate expertise and is balanced and free from conflicts of interest. Additionally, we seek diversity in membership selection by considering the inclusion of women, minorities, and young professionals. An ad hoc committee will be appointed to conduct the survey with the goal of identifying opportunities that are poised to contribute significantly to the intelligence community's analytic responsibilities.
The study will identify opportunities throughout the social sciences (e.g., sociology, demography, political science, economics, anthropology) and from behavioral sciences (e.g. psychology, cognition, neuroscience). The committee will work with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) and security community members to understand government needs and expectations.
The final consensus report will be based on the committee's consideration of broad national security priorities; relevant capabilities of elements within the security community to support and apply findings from social and behavioral science; cost and technical readiness; likely growth of research programs; emerging data, procedures, personnel, and other resources; and opportunities to leverage related research activities not directly supported by government. The committee will specify a range of relevant work that could be useful to the intelligence community for their consideration in developing future research priorities.
The committee's primary tasks will be:
- Assess progress in addressing selected major social and behavioral scientific challenges that might prove useful to national security. Include discussion of approaches that are gaining strength and those that are losing strength. Where possible, rely on published meta-analyses.
- Identify SBS opportunities that can be used to guide security community investment decisions and application efforts over the next 10 years.
- Specify approaches to facilitate productive interchange between the security community and the external social science research community.
The survey will engage members of the SBS community to generate ideas for research that may benefit national security now and in the ensuing decade. The total project duration will be 30 months from summer 2016 to winter 2018. The committee's final report will be available to the public. All work will be conducted at the unclassified level. The work is overseen by the Board on Behavioral, Cognitive, and Sensory Sciences (BBCSS), part of the Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education (DBASSE) of the Academies in collaboration with the newly-forming Intelligence Community Studies Board (ICSB) in the Division of Engineering and Physical Sciences.