MINDS — Mobilizing Insights in Defence and Security

MINDS Targeted Engagement Grants

Helps research teams and institutions for MINDS Targeted Engagement Grants in defense innovation.

The MINDS Targeted Engagement Grant Program is a competitive funding stream operated by the Department of National Defence Canada under the broader Mobilizing Insights in Defence and Security (MINDS) initiative, launched in 2018. It awards non-recurring grants of up to CAD $50,000 to Canadian academic institutions, think tanks, individual researchers (including graduate students), and Canadian-based defence and security experts. Funded activities must directly address an annual MINDS Defence Policy Challenge published by DND and CAF, and may include conferences, roundtables, workshops, and research or publication outputs. A Young MINDS sub-stream offers CAD $10,000 grants specifically for undergraduate and master's students working on the same policy challenges.

The 2025–2026 application period closed with decisions expected by end of July 2026. The program runs on an annual cycle, with new challenges and application windows released each fiscal year. For-profit businesses are not eligible to apply directly; individual researchers affiliated with recognized Canadian institutions are. The MINDS Scholarship Initiative, jointly administered with SSHRC, provides separate research training awards for master's, doctoral, and postdoctoral researchers in social sciences and humanities and is accessed via SSHRC channels.

Successful applicants are selected based on how directly their proposed activity responds to the published Defence Policy Challenges. Researchers aiming to compete should monitor the annual challenge release — typically in the spring of each fiscal year — and frame proposals tightly around identified DND knowledge gaps. Strong applications combine academic rigour with operational relevance to the Canadian Armed Forces. The program is distinct from IDEaS (which funds technology innovation) and CSSP (which funds applied public-safety S&T): MINDS Targeted Engagement is focused exclusively on policy-relevant research and expert engagement.