Science for Peace and Security (SPS) is aNATO programme supporting non-military cooperation focused on scientific research, technological innovation and knowledge exchange. The SPS Programme in its current form was established in 2006, building on over 60 years of scientific cooperation at NATO.[1][2]
SPS offers funding, expert advice and support to tailor-made and security-relevant activities that enable cooperation among scientists, researchers and government officials inNATO member states and NATO partner countries. A distinctive feature of the Programme is that every activity it funds requires the involvement of at least two entities, one in a NATO member state and one in an eligible NATO partner country, who must work together to address shared security challenges.
The Programme's funding opportunities are announced via calls for proposals posted on its website up to three times a year.[3] SPS supports four types ofgrants: research and development Multi-Year Projects, Advanced Research Workshops, Advanced Training Courses, and Advanced Study Institutes.[4]
The SPS Programme's focus is set by a list of thematic priorities agreed by NATO members.[5] In April 2024, SPS announced the adoption of a revised list of thematic priorities to strengthen its alignment with NATO's strategic outlook and partnership priorities.[6]
In line with its revised list of priorities, the SPS Programme supports activities that address at least one of the following thematic areas:
"SAPIENCE" is a project involving four teams from universities in theNetherlands,United Kingdom,United States, andAustria in a series of competitions. In simulated disaster scenarios, participants must overcome technical challenges of increasing complexity by employing teams of autonomousdrones.[7][8]
"Hybrid space and submarine architecture to Ensure the Information Security of Telecommunications (HEIST)" is a project launched in 2024 aimed at rerouting the internet to space in the event of subsea cable attacks.[9]Demonstration and testing of the DEXTER technology in a subway station inRome, Italy in May 2022.
"DEXTER" was a project involving 11 laboratories in 8 countries in the development of an integrated and affordablesensor-fusion system able to detectexplosives andfirearms in public places, remotely and in real time.[10][11][12]
The project "Demining Robots" brought together researchers fromuniversities inItaly,Jordan,Ukraine, and the United States, who demonstrated the feasibility of a safelandmine andImprovised Explosive Device (IED) detection system relying on a team of cooperative robotic vehicles, each carrying specialized sensors.[16][17]
TheSummer School Marktoberdorf is an Advanced Study Institute focusing on computer science which received support from the SPS Programme on multiple occasions.[18]
Researchers inBelgium,Jordan,Morocco, and the United Kingdom collaborated on the project "Responding to Emerging Security Challenges in NATO's Southern Neighbourhood", which analysed the main geopolitical, socioeconomic and energy-related challenges in the area, developing three alternative future scenarios for the region out to 2030.[19]
