In collaboration with the United States Institute of Peace, Minerva offers several programs for researchers at US universities working on topics related to peace, conflict, security, and stability. Currently, the program awards up to 18 scholarships per year, and awards support both research and writing stages of work on dissertations.

In the latest Alumni Confidential, Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation (IGCC) dissertation fellow (1996-97) Steven Lobell, a professor of political science at the University of Utah and expert in U.S. grand strategy, international security, and great power competition talks about what the early years of academic life are (really) like, and why being an IGCC fellow helped him get a head start. He also shares emerging findings from his new Minerva-funded research on why some near crises escalate into full-blown conflict—and why others don’t—and how escalation can be avoided.