ANNOUNCEMENT:
The following information is posted for information purposes only. It reflects the program benefits
and conditions for the previous competition cycle. Updated information for the upcoming competition cycle will be
posted at this same web address in the fall.
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Reference Materials
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) realizes that the country’s strong science and technology community
provides a critical advantage in the development and implementation of counter-terrorist measures and other DHS objectives.
The DHS HS-STEM Summer Internship Program is intended for students interested in pursuing the basic science and technology
innovations that can be applied to the DHS mission. This program is supported by the Science and Technology Directorate
(S&T), Office of Research, University Programs. Read more on
the DHS Science and Technology enterprise. This information
will be useful in completing your application. The S&T Directorate is the primary research and development arm of DHS.
The Directorate organizes the vast scientific and technological resources of the United States to prevent or mitigate the
effects of catastrophic terrorism against the United States or its allies. Before completing your application, read more
on the S&T Divisions,
DHS Research,
and review the information below on each homeland security research
area.
- Explosives Detection, Mitigation and Response (e.g., the detection, mitigation, and response to non-nuclear and
non-radiological explosives in a wide variety of contexts)
- Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (e.g., 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)
- Risk and Decision Sciences (e.g., applications of advanced methods and techniques to support decision making;
quantitative analysis)
- Human Factors (e.g., integration of human factors concerns into homeland security technologies to improve usability
and operator safety; assessments of public acceptance of homeland security technologies)
- Chemical Threats and Countermeasures (e.g., assessment, characterization and prioritization of chemical
threats; detection and warning systems; chemical countermeasures; and decontamination,
restoration and medical response to chemical threat events)
- Biological Threats and Countermeasures (e.g., assessment, characterization and prioritization of biological
threats; detection and warning systems; agro-defense and food security; biological countermeasures; and decontamination,
restoration and medical response to biological threat events)
- Food and Agriculture Security (e.g. prevention, detection, mitigation and response to natural and man made threats
to the food supply from farmers and ranchers to consumers; food supply chain security)
- Transportation Security (e.g., 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)
- Border Security (e.g., technologies and tools to monitor, survey and inspect cargo and people who cross our land and
maritime borders and ports of entry; evaluation of the policies and procedures designed to secure the border while
welcoming legitimate visitors and trade)
- Immigration Studies (e.g. evaluation of the policies and procedures designed to control illegal and foster legal
immigration and travel; studies of the incorporation of new immigrants into U.S. society and the consequences of
successful/failed incorporation)
- Maritime and Port Security (e.g., 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)
- Infrastructure Protection (e.g., 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 for, predict, and minimize or prevent damage
to critical infrastructure)
- Natural Disasters and Related Geophysical Studies (e.g., tools to predict and assess the risks, consequences and
policy options to reduce damages to life, health, property and communities from hurricanes, floods, forest fires,
tsunamis, earthquakes, and other natural disasters; application of engineering technologies or tools to enhance DHS’
ability to prepare for, predict, and minimize or prevent damage to critical infrastructure from natural hazards)
- Emergency Preparedness and Response (e.g., decision support tools to aid in the preparation or response to catastrophic
events; studies of public risk communication; training of first-responders to enhance capability to respond to mass
casualty events)
- Communications and Interoperability (e.g., interoperable communication for emergency responders; cyber security)
- Advanced Data Analysis and Visualization (e.g., information extraction, knowledge management, and visualization of
large quantities of data to enhance data fusion, situational awareness, and threat detection)
