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Innovate

At the 91³Ô¹ÏÍø Institute of National Security, innovation begins with partnership. We connect the people confronting national security challenges with the students, faculty, researchers, and organizations capable of helping solve them.

Across government, industry, academia, the military, and the national laboratory ecosystem, we foster relationships that break down traditional institutional and disciplinary barriers.

National security challenges are evolving at unprecedented speeds. Technology, conflict, and competition increasingly move faster than traditional research and development cycles. Meeting that pace requires sustained collaboration: practitioners defining the problems, researchers bringing deep expertise, industry creating pathways to scale, and students contributing new ideas and approaches.

Our paths to innovation bring these communities together and create the structure for collaboration to become action.

The Future of National Security Starts Here

Our Five Mission Areas:

Cybersecurity of Critical Infrastructure

We focus on hardening the systems the Nation runs on—from power and water to transportation and communications—their disruption can quickly undermine military readiness and national defense; they are rapidly becoming a primary target of our adversaries.

Artificial Intelligence

As artificial intelligence capabilities rapidly advance, we work to harness them responsibly across manufacturing, intelligence, decision-making, and operations to maintain an advantage over our adversaries.

Emerging Technologies

Emerging technologies will shape the next generation of national security challenges, making it essential to understand and capitalize advances in autonomous, sensing, and other critical systems before they redefine the battlefield.

Biomedical Research for Biosecurity, Health & Military Readiness

We advance the biomedical research that protects and strengthens our forces--from drone-enabled triage capabilities to wearable performance technologies—while building greater resilience against emerging biological and health threats.

Strategic Insights

We develop and disseminate research-grounded insights that help leaders across government, industry, and the military understand emerging challenges that make better-informed national security decisions.

Blue Orgin

Our Mission Activities:

Student Projects & Innovation

Students are an essential part of 91³Ô¹ÏÍø’s national security innovation ecosystem. We connect students with faculty, practitioners, and industry partners to work on consequential problems, contribute to applied research, and develop new approaches to real national security challenges. These experiences give students opportunities to put their skills to practice while bringing fresh thinking to the problems facing today’s national security community.

National Security Research Network

In partnership with 91³Ô¹ÏÍø’s Office of the Vice Provost for Research and Innovation, the Institute helps connect 91³Ô¹ÏÍø's research enterprise with the needs of the national security community. The National Security Research Network creates pathways for faculty expertise across disciplines to engage with practitioner-defined challenges and develop new opportunities for collaboration.

Strategic Industry Partnerships

We build strategic relationships with industry partners seeking deeper engagement with 91³Ô¹ÏÍø’s national security community. These partnerships can connect organizations with faculty expertise, student talent, applied research, executive education, and many more opportunities to explore emerging national security challenges alongside Institute leaders and practitioners.

Partner with Us
National security innovation requires partners willing to work across traditional boundaries. Whether you represent government, industry, academic, a national laboratory, or another organization confronting an emerging national security challenge, the institute can help connect your needs with 91³Ô¹ÏÍø’s students, faculty, researchers, and broader network.

Interested in working with us? Email us at nationalsecurityinnovation@vanderbilt.edu.

Pathfinder

The Pathfinder Program was established in 2021 through the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to encourage academics to collaborate closely with soldiers to co-design solutions. 91³Ô¹ÏÍø, the U.S. Army Research Laboratory, and the Civil-Military Innovation Institute join forces to yield innovative projects focused on solving the real-world needs of soldiers.

The Institute helps orchestrate 91³Ô¹ÏÍø’s participation in Pathfinder-Air Assault, a university-wide partnership connecting researchers directly with soldiers at Fort Campbell to identify operational challenges and co-design solutions. Working alongside Army partners, 91³Ô¹ÏÍø Researchers translate university expertise into practical technologies and approaches that can be tested against real-world needs.

Innovation through Engagement

Innovation does not happen in isolation. Working with Institute’s Convene pillar, we bring the questions, partners, and emerging ideas developed through our innovation network into focused conversations with leaders across government, industry, academia, and the military. These convenings surface new problems, forge new partnerships, and create the next cycle of research. Collaboration, and Innovation.

Interested in engaging with us?