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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2004. University Research Centers of Excellence for Homeland Security: A Summary Report of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10984.
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University Research Centers of Excellence for Homeland Security

A Summary Report of a Workshop

Alan Shaw

National Research Council

Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences

NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
Washington, D.C.
www.nap.edu

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2004. University Research Centers of Excellence for Homeland Security: A Summary Report of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10984.
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THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
500 Fifth Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20001

NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.

Support for this project was provided by the Department of Homeland Security under Purchase Order Number 248836. Any views expressed in this publication are those of the workshop participants and do not necessarily reflect the views of the agency that provided support for the project.

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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2004. University Research Centers of Excellence for Homeland Security: A Summary Report of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10984.
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THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES

Advisers to the Nation on Science, Engineering, and Medicine

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts is president of the National Academy of Sciences.

The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Wm. A. Wulf is president of the National Academy of Engineering.

The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg is president of the Institute of Medicine.

The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts and Dr. Wm. A. Wulf are chair and vice chair, respectively, of the National Research Council.

www.national-academies.org

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2004. University Research Centers of Excellence for Homeland Security: A Summary Report of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10984.
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ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

LEWIS M. BRANSCOMB,

Harvard University (Emeritus)

M. GRANGER MORGAN,

Carnegie Mellon University

NEIL J. SMELSER,

University of California, Berkeley

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2004. University Research Centers of Excellence for Homeland Security: A Summary Report of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10984.
×

Preface

As the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) passes its 1-year anniversary, Secretary Tom Ridge often cites the essential role of science and technology (S&T) in the nation’s efforts to “carry out a vigorous and ambitious slate of [homeland] security initiatives.”1 Congressional appropriations for DHS include substantial funding for S&T efforts, including research and development (R&D). Indeed, Congress acknowledged the key role science and technology would play in the nation’s efforts to counter terrorism by including the S&T Directorate prominently in the organizational structure of the new department.2

In organizing the new S&T Directorate, DHS established two major new entities, the Office of Research and Development (ORD), which focuses on the use of federal laboratories and facilities as well as universities to advance S&T objectives, and the Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency (HSARPA), which will sponsor activities primarily in industry. Key challenges for both ORD and HSARPA include striking an effective balance between applied and basic research and matching urgent R&D needs to strengthen homeland security with the institutional capabilities most suited to specific research areas.

The nation’s universities constitute a formidable resource in both basic and applied research areas. The Office of University Programs within ORD is responsible for sponsoring a number of homeland security centers of excellence (HS-centers) in U.S. universities. These centers are envisaged principally as building important multidisciplinary and crosscutting capabilities in research areas where universities can contribute most effectively to the department’s mission and to improvements in technology that will yield the most cost-effective benefits for the prevention, detection, and mitigation of the effects of terrorist actions. Defining and creating HS-centers such that specific research needs are matched to specific center capabilities will be an especially important task for ORD. In November 2003 DHS announced that the University of Southern California had been chosen to host the first HS-center, devoted to the study of risk analysis related to the economic consequences of terrorist threats and events. The FY 2004 congressional appropriations for DHS provide funding for additional centers to be established among the nation’s universities. The department plans to establish these centers to work across a spectrum of short- and long-range research and development areas, carrying out crosscutting multidisciplinary research that brings together the nation’s best experts and focuses its most talented researchers on a variety of threats that include chemical, biological, nuclear and radiological, explosive, and cyber-threats.

HS-centers will do more than study threats. They will also look at technical means for delivering weapons; sources of vulnerability and thus of targets; public responses to attack or threats of attack; and roots of terrorism and the motivations and intent of terrorists.

In December 2004, DHS issued a Broad Agency Announcement to establish two additional HS-centers focusing on agro-terrorism, and the department expects to establish additional centers over the

1  

See, for example, the testimony by Secretary Tom Ridge on the FY05 Budget before the Senate Appropriations Committee, February 10, 2004.

2  

Creating the S&T Directorate was a key recommendation of the National Research Council’s report Making the Nation Safer: The Role of Science and Technology in Countering Terrorism, National Academies Press, Washington, D.C., 2002.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2004. University Research Centers of Excellence for Homeland Security: A Summary Report of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10984.
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next several years, with the topics for the remaining centers yet to be decided. These centers will be established within official guidelines, including legislation, that specify the following stated purposes:

  • Training a cadre of new leaders in science, engineering, and related fields;

  • Creating a technical and research skill base to address issues related to homeland security; and

  • Producing a broad range of products for strengthening homeland security and countering terrorism.

The individual centers are intended to be valuable producers in their own right, while supporting efforts across the larger DHS S&T program.

In planning for the creation of future HS-centers, the Office of University Programs sought the help of the National Academies’ National Research Council (NRC). To this end, the NRC’s Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences (DEPS) convened a 1-day workshop on January 29, 2004, that brought together DHS officials with key university officials as well as other experts (many of whom were involved in preparing the NRC report Making the Nation Safer, noted above). Appendix A includes a statement of the scope of work and the workshop agenda. Information on the workshop participants is given in Appendix B.

Conceived and tasked as a general brainstorming session to generate a broad range of ideas from which DHS might draw in defining future centers of excellence, the workshop was intended primarily to elicit ideas through a free-wheeling discussion. To help in planning the workshop, the NRC appointed a three-member organizing committee that did not include the workshop co-chairs. As agreed by the organizers and the sponsor (DHS), the workshop agenda formed only a loose framework to stimulate a discussion in which topics emerged, re-emerged, and intertwined over the course of the day. Within the context of existing official legislative guidelines for creating the HS-centers, workshop participants discussed and assessed topical multidisciplinary and crosscutting research areas to help inform DHS as it decides areas in which universities can contribute most effectively to the DHS mission. Participants also suggested additional ideas for consideration by DHS as it sets criteria for the selection of HS-centers. Viewgraphs presented to workshop participants and summarized in this report are posted on the DEPS Web site at www7.nationalacademies.org/deps.

This report summarizes the results of the workshop and presents the major ideas that emerged from the day’s discussions, assembling themes and ideas in an order based on the ideas themselves, rather than the order suggested by the agenda. This approach captures the ideas that the workshop generated but does not present the actual flow of conversation over the course of the day.

This workshop report does not make recommendations, nor does it prioritize the ideas that were generated. No priorities are implied in the order in which ideas are presented.

In accordance with procedures approved by the National Research Council’s Report Review Committee, this workshop summary was reviewed in draft form by Ashton Carter, Harvard University; Ruth David, Analytic Services Inc.; Marye Anne Fox, North Carolina State University; and Charles M. Vest, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The review was overseen by Robert A. Frosh, Harvard University. Their effort in this task is much appreciated. Final responsibility for the content of this workshop summary rests with the National Research Council and the author.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2004. University Research Centers of Excellence for Homeland Security: A Summary Report of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10984.
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In establishing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Administration and Congress determined that science and technology should play a key role in the nation’s efforts to counter terrorism. Congress included an S&T directorate prominently in the DHS. Within that directorate, is the Office of University Programs, which is responsible for sponsoring a number of homeland security centers of excellence in the nation’s universities. These centers are to work on a spectrum of short- and long-range R&D and carry out crosscutting, multidisciplinary work on a variety of threats. To assist it in planning for these centers, TSA asked the NRC to hold a workshop to generate a broad range of ideas to draw on to help define the centers. This report presents the results of that workshop including the major ideas that emerged from the discussions.

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