DHS Research Areas
In the research area descriptions below, the following abbreviations are used:
- “S&T” for “DHS Science and Technology Directorate”
- “DHS COE” for “DHS Center of Excellence”, i.e. one of twelve groups of university-led research
partners addressing research problems of vital interest to homeland security
- “HS-STEM” for “homeland security-related science, technology, engineering, and mathematics”
Applications should describe interest in terms of relevant social, biological or physical sciences; mathematics; or engineering research in the
context of the following high priority homeland security research areas:
- Advanced Data Analysis and Visualization: information extraction, knowledge management, and visualization of large
quantities of data to enhance data fusion, situational awareness, and threat detection. The following are HS-STEM
disciplines that could be necessary to support research associated with this DHS S&T area: e.g. Biology, Computer
Science, Engineering, Health Sciences, Mathematics, and Psychology.
- Biological Threats & Countermeasures: assessment, characterization and prioritization of chemical-biological
threats; detection and warning systems; agro-defense and food security; biological countermeasures; and decontamination,
restoration and medical response to biological threat events. The following are HS-STEM disciplines that could be
necessary to support research associated with this DHS S&T area: e.g. Biology, Veterinary Science, Emergency Medicine,
Chemistry, Agriculture, Computer Science, Economics, Engineering, Health Sciences, Mathematics, Physics, and Planetary
Science.
- Border Security: technologies to monitor and inspect cargo that cross our land, maritime borders and ports of
entry; tools to monitor people who cross our land, maritime borders and ports of entry; evaluation of the policies
and procedures designed to secure the border while welcoming legitimate visitors and trade. The following are HS-STEM
disciplines that could be necessary to support research associated with this DHS S&T area: e.g. Computer Science,
Engineering, Social Science, and Aeronautics.
| S&T Division: |
Borders & Maritime |
| DHS COE: |
Border Security and Immigration; University of Arizona, University of Texas at El Paso |
| Website: |
http://www.borders.arizona.edu/ |
- Chemical Threats and Countermeasures: assessment, characterization and prioritization of chemical-biological
threats; detection and warning systems; agro-defense and food security; chemical countermeasures; and decontamination,
restoration and response to chemical threat events. The following are HS-STEM disciplines that could be necessary to
support research associated with this DHS research area: e.g. Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Materials
Engineering/Science, Biochemistry, and Meteorology.
| S&T Division: |
Chemical/Biological |
| DHS COE: |
Food Protection and Defense, University of Minnesota |
| Website: |
http://www.ncfpd.umn.edu/ |
- Communications and Interoperability: interoperable communication for emergency responders. The
following are HS-STEM disciplines that could be necessary to support research associated with this DHS S&T area: e.g.
Engineering.
- Community, Commerce and Infrastructure Resilience: multidisciplinary research to develop approaches to improve
community resilience across the United States, improving community resilience and determining ways where public
investments can foster resilient communities. The following are HS-STEM disciplines that could be necessary to support
research associated with this DHS research area: e.g. Economics, Social Sciences, Psychology, Public Health, Urban
Planning, Environmental Studies, and Engineering.
- Emergency Preparedness and Response: decision support tools to aid in the preparation or response to catastrophic
events; studies of public risk communication; medicine and public health; business technology for first-responders.
The following are HS-STEM disciplines that could be necessary to support research associated with this DHS S&T area:
e.g. Computer Science, Economics, Engineering, Physics and Quantitative Political Science.
- Explosives Detection, Mitigation, and Response: the detection, mitigation, and response to explosives in a wide
variety of contexts. The following are HS-STEM disciplines that could be necessary to support research associated with
this DHS S&T area: e.g. Chemistry, Engineering, Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics, and Social Sciences.
| S&T Division: |
Explosives |
| DHS COE: |
Explosives Detection, Mitigation, and Response; Northeastern University, University of Rhode Island |
| Website: |
http://www.northeastern.edu/alert/ |
- Food and Agriculture Security: assessment, characterization and prioritization of chemical-biological threats;
detection and warning systems; agro-defense and food security; biological or chemical countermeasures; and
decontamination, restoration and medical response to biological or chemical threat events. The following are HS-STEM
disciplines that could be necessary to support research associated with this DHS S&T area: e.g. Agriculture, Bio-Chem,
Epidemiology, Veterinary Science, Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Economics, Mathematics, Engineering, Physics,
Planetary Science, and Health Sciences.
- Human Factors: integration of human factors concerns into homeland security technologies to improve utility and
operator safety; assessments of public acceptance of homeland security technologies; use of technology to discern
critical aspects of human behavior. The following are HS-STEM disciplines that could be necessary to support research
associated with this DHS S&T area: e.g. Computer Science, Engineering, Health Sciences, Psychology, and Social Sciences.
- Immigration Studies: studies of the integration of new immigrants into U.S. society and the consequences of
successful/failed assimilation. The following are HS-STEM disciplines that could be necessary to support research
associated with this DHS S&T area: e.g. Computer Science, Economics, Social Science, and Political Science.
| S&T Division: |
Borders & Maritime |
| DHS COE: |
Border Security and Immigration; University of Arizona, University of Texas at El Paso |
| Website: |
http://www.borders.arizona.edu/ |
- Infrastructure Protection: assessment of relative threats and vulnerabilities of critical infrastructure; estimation
of consequences of natural disasters or terrorist attacks to critical infrastructure; application of engineering
technologies or tools to enhance DHS’ ability to prepare, predict, and minimize or prevent damage to critical
infrastructure from natural hazards. The following are HS-STEM disciplines that could be necessary to support research
associated with this DHS S&T area: e.g. Computer Science, Economics, Engineering, Physics, Meteorology, Oceanography,
Hydrology, Marine Science, and Business Administration.
| S&T Division: |
Infrastructure Protection & Disaster Management |
| DHS COEs: |
Maritime, Island and Remote and Extreme Environment Security; Stevens Institute of Technology, University of Hawaii |
|
Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorist Events, University of Southern California |
| Websites: |
http://www.cimes.hawaii.edu/ |
|
http://create.usc.edu/ |
- Maritime and Port Security: technologies and tools to secure national maritime borders and U.S. maritime interests,
support global maritime awareness, defend maritime commerce and global supply chains, minimize damage and expedite
recovery from attacks or catastrophic events impacting maritime interests, and protect coastal population centers. The
following are HS-STEM disciplines that could be necessary to support research associated with this DHS S&T area: e.g.
Economics, Chemistry, Operations Research, Computer Science and Engineering, Maritime Engineering and Shipping Supply
Chain (MBA), Maritime Meteorology, Remote Sensing.
| S&T Division: |
Borders & Maritime |
| DHS COEs: |
Maritime, Island and Remote and Extreme Environment Security; Stevens Institute of Technology, University of Hawaii |
| Website: |
http://www.cimes.hawaii.edu/ |
- Natural Disasters and Related Geophysical Studies: assessment of relative threats and vulnerabilities of critical
infrastructure; estimation of consequences of natural disasters or terrorist attacks to critical infrastructure;
application of engineering technologies or tools to enhance DHS’ ability to prepare, predict, and minimize or prevent
damage to critical infrastructure from natural hazards. The following are HS-STEM disciplines that could be necessary
to support research associated with this DHS S&T area: e.g. Computer Science, Economics, Engineering, and Physics.
- Risk, Economics, and Decision Sciences: applications of advanced methods and techniques to support decision making;
quantitative analysis. The following are HS-STEM disciplines that could be necessary to support research associated with
this DHS S&T area: e.g. Biology, Chemistry, Agriculture, Computer Science, Economics, Mathematics, and Engineering.
| S&T Division: |
Operations Research |
| DHS COE: |
Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorist Events, University of Southern California |
| Website: |
http://create.usc.edu/ |
- Social and Behavioral Sciences: social and behavioral analyses of terrorist threats; community preparedness, response
and recovery from catastrophic events; economic assessments of terrorism and catastrophic events; and economic and
mathematical decision models of terrorist behavior. The following are HS-STEM disciplines that could be necessary to
support research associated with this DHS S&T area: e.g. Engineering, Health Sciences, Economics, and Psychology.
| S&T Division: |
Human Factors/Behavioral Sciences |
| DHS COEs: |
Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, University of Maryland |
|
Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorist Events,
University of Southern California |
| Websites: |
http://www.start.umd.edu/start/ |
|
http://create.usc.edu/ |
- Transportation Security: applications of advanced methods and techniques to support decision making; quantitative
analysis; improving the Nation’s preparedness in the event of a high consequence natural or man-made disaster, and
developing best practices to alleviate the event’s effects. The following are HS-STEM disciplines that could be
necessary to support research associated with this DHS S&T area: e.g. Chemistry, Computer Science, Engineering,
Mathematics, Physics, Economics, and Business Supply Chain.
