Influence, Manipulation and Information Threats as Adversarial Techniques: Events, Evolution and Effects (IMITATE3)

Influence, Manipulation and Information Threats as Adversarial Techniques: Events, Evolution and Effects (IMITATE3) is sponsored by U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Minerva Research Initiative. This opportunity supports mission-aligned projects and measurable outcomes.

US and UK collaborating to research misinformation campaigns – UKRI US and UK collaborating to research misinformation campaigns The joint US-UK Bilateral Academic Research Initiative (BARI) social science programme has announced its first funded research project. The awarded project is ‘Influence, Manipulation and Information Threats as Adversarial Techniques: Events, Evolution and Effects (IMITATE3)’.

It is led by Professor Jacob Shapiro at Princeton University for the US and Professor Martin Innes at Cardiff University for the UK. Over the three-year course of the project, the US research team will receive up to $3 million of US Department of Defense (DoD) funding from the Minerva Research Initiative. The UK research team will receive up to £2.

87 million from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). International collaboration BARI is a joint programme of DoD and ESRC. The programme focuses on high-risk basic research through international collaboration, supporting academic teams from both the US and UK to merge their unique skill sets and methodologies.

This collaboration aims to achieve advancements in scientific fields of mutual interest to both nations. Providing robust and innovative insights The IMITATE3 project will lead to a fundamental change in our understanding of the construction, communication and consequences of foreign influence operations, and their capacity to induce political, cultural, and socio-economic instability and uncertainty.

The project will provide robust and innovative insights and evidence about how foreign state information operations seek to shape public perceptions and political decision-making in a range of international settings. Set against a backdrop of regular attempts to use rumours, propaganda, conspiracies and manipulated information to disinform, distort and deceive, it will address an urgent global and social problem.

Remarkable potential of international collaboration Dr David Montgomery, Director of social science in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (OUSD(R&E)) said: The BARI Social Science Program showcases the remarkable potential of international collaboration.

By bringing together leading scientists from the US and UK, this initiative is set to achieve advancements in areas of shared interest, highlighting the strength of combining diverse perspectives and expertise.

Joining of forces between social science superpowers Stian Westlake, Executive Chair of ESRC said: Now, as much as at any time in history, we need to understand and counter the misinformation and manipulation spread by hostile states to destabilise the world’s democracies.

The BARI Social Science Program represents the joining of forces between two of the world’s social science superpowers to the mutual benefit of both nations and to the benefit of people everywhere. Find out more information about Research and Technology . BARI is jointly sponsored by the Basic Research Office in the US Office of the Secretary of Defense and ESRC.

The project will be managed by subject matter experts from a joint service team from the Minerva Research Initiative, Air Force Office of Scientific Research and ESRC. OUSD(R&E) is responsible for the research, development and prototyping activities across the DoD. Top image: Credit: mrrobotonur07, iStock, Getty Images Plus via Getty Images This is the website for UKRI: our seven research councils, Research England and Innovate UK.

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