Research Brief: Validation of the Nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR) Initiative
Pre-incident activities occurring prior to acts of terrorism do often align with existing SAR indicators, according to a recent START study. The SAR indicators with the highest prevalence were weapons discovery, materials acquisition/storage, expressed or implied threats, and observation/surveillance. Read more.
START announces Paul Gallo Memorial Scholarship for Non-Traditional Student Interns
Each summer, START will award one $500 scholarship to one non-traditional student within the University of Maryland System who is also a START intern that summer. This scholarship honors the memory of Paul Gallo, a researcher and project manager within the Special Projects Division of START, who passed away unexpectedly last fall. Read more.
The Non-Conventional Threat CBRNe Event Series Comes to America
START will welcome the leading international Non-Conventional Threat CBRNe event series to the University of Maryland campus April 29-May 1 for its United States debut. The conference aims to provide a forum for the armed forces, government agencies, first responders and the industry to discuss crucial challenges of CBRNe preparedness. Read more or Register here.
Rage, Rage Against the Dying of the Slight
In this editorial piece, Dr. Gary Ackerman discusses the intentional targeting of children by terrorist organizations and argues that it’s time for researchers to allow themselves to feel outrage at such especially heinous acts. Read more.
Towards Global Jihadism
Terrorism and Political Violence
Braniff, Bill and Assaf Moghadam
Public Engagement and the Governance of Gain-of-Function Research
Health Security
Schoch-Spana, Monica
Prepare, respond and recover with TRACC training
START investigators recently completed a contract with the Maryland Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) to provide Training in Risk and Crisis Communication (TRACC) throughout the state of Maryland. TRACC is a social science-based curriculum that covers risk communication during the entire life-cycle of a crisis – preparation, response and recovery. Read more.
CVE Fellows develop social media campaign to combat violent extremism
A group of University of Maryland undergraduates is participating in an international competition seeking the best social media campaign to counter the online recruiting efforts of violent extremists. Read more.
START research informs United States Institute of Peace CVE event
William Braniff, START executive director, was one of four experts invited to present and discuss research on countering violent extremism during a forum on the topic. Read more.
GTD researchers reflect on new book, terrorism trends that defy conventional wisdom
START Investigators Gary LaFree, Laura Dugan and Erin Miller recently gave a talk on their new book, “Putting Terrorism in Context: Lessons from the Global Terrorism Database,” offering a closer look at some of the trends and data detailed in the book. Read more.
A trip to Tohoku inspires new START study abroad program
After planning the trip one year ago, Meredith Collier, START’s Education and Curriculum Development Research Assistant, and 18 University of Maryland students travelled to Tohoku, Japan, where they learned the meaning of kizuna and about the region’s recovery from a magnitude-9 earthquake that killed more than 18,000 citizens in March 2011. Read more.
Researcher Spotlight: Marcus Boyd
An expert in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), START Researcher Marcus Boyd uses his background in sociology to uniquely inform the GIS components of a multitude of START projects. Read more.
START to perform research to improve person borne improvised device detection
This summer, START will begin working with the University of Maryland Police Department K9 Explosives Detection Unit to develop deployment strategies with explosive detection dogs trained to inspect human subjects. Read more.
For START Investigators: Undergraduate Research Program submissions due May 1
START seeks nominations from its investigators for a scholarship program to award talented undergraduate students pursuing degrees in the social and behavioral sciences in research related to understanding origins and/or responses to terrorism. Read more.
DHS S&T launches prize competition for tracking first responders indoors
The Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) announced the Department’s first crowd-sourced prize competition in support of the nation’s first responder community. The “Indoor Tracking of the Next Generation First Responder” prize competition seeks innovative ideas for solving the challenges of real-time, accurate indoor tracking of first responders during an incident. Read more.
Gary Ackerman: Unconventional Methods for Assessing Unconventional Threats. April 16 at George Mason University.
International Non-Conventional Threat CBRNe USA conference. April 29 – May 1 at University of Maryland.
START Summer Internships Apply by April 5.
CREATE Executive Program in Counterterrorism Apply by June 1.
START Graduate Certificate in Terrorism Analysis Online Info Session RSVP by June 1.
Call for Abstracts: Nice Global Forum HLS & Crisis Management Submit by Oct. 1.
DHS S&T ‘National Conversation on Homeland Security and Technology’ Dialogue Series Participate Now.
START's Benjamin Ash blogs about his work at START, describing his journey from an unpaid intern to an employee. Read more.
Voice of America: ISIS – Child Soldiers
START investigator Dr. Arie Kruglanski appeared on Voice of America to discuss ISIS recruitment methods, particularly the use of child solders. View here.
The New York Times: Where Terrorism Research Goes Wrong
Information from START’s Global Terrorism Database about the prevalence of terror attacks committed by various groups is used in an article about terrorism research. Read more.
Emergency Management: What’s Next for Alerting Via Social Media?
A START study on optimizing mobile alert messages is the subject of an article in Emergency Management blog. Read more.
Wall Street Journal (Video): How ISIS Is Trying to Pull the U.S. Further into War
START Investigator Dr. Anthony Lemieux appeared in a Wall Street Journal video discussing an ISIS call to kill on members of the U.S. Military. View here.
A complete list of START’s media coverage can be found here.
Help Support START Research and Education
The START Consortium is dedicated to generating knowledge of the human causes and consequences of terrorism. Applying rigorous standards to both research and education, START seeks to illuminate one of the most highly politicized and understudied phenomena in the social sciences for students, practitioners and policy-makers. Funded primarily through research grants to date, START is seeking to generate an endowment that will provide the flexibility and autonomy to ensure that it can continue to serve as an objective source of data and empirically based analysis into the future. To donate, or for more information, please click here. Copyright © 2015 The National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START), All rights reserved.