October 2024 Newsletter

Catch up on the latest news and upcoming events from the NATO Science and Technology Organization (STO)

STO launches Chief Scientist's Grants Programme

The NATO STO has launched a new grants programme to empower diverse minds to shape the future of global security. The Chief Scientist's Grants Programme will award a total of €500,000 in 2025 to fund science and technology studies on emerging topics, as well as science and technology awareness initiatives. The programme is now accepting applications until 15 November from nationals of NATO Allies working for organizations that are affiliated with, or part of, a NATO Allied government, or that are affiliated with research Institutes, NGOs or private/public companies.

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?? Edge computing at the tactical edge

As miliary operations increasingly rely on data, troops on the battlefield face vulnerabilities due to congested communications networks. A team of NATO STO researchers is working to ensure that Allied forces have access to critical information, in order to maintain their operational superiority.

?? Insights from the inaugural STO Summer School events

In two new videos, attendees from the first STO Summer School events share their thoughts on the importance of working with NATO on science and technology, and what they learned from a week of lectures, discussions and networking. The sensing technology event (above), was held from 8-12 July in Helsinki, Finland. Click here to see interviews from our Summer School on decision-making for the future, held from 15-18 July in Munich, Germany.

?? Predicting the infrared signatures of tactical missiles

Modern tactical missiles pose significant threats due to their speed, maneuverability, and ability to evade traditional defence systems. Understanding their infrared signatures is key to developing effective countermeasures. A team of NATO STO researchers is working on new ways to predict the infrared signatures of various tactical missiles, using sophisticated modelling and simulation techniques.

NATO initiates multinational cooperation on distributed synthetic training

On 17 October, defence ministers from 18 NATO Nations signed a letter of intent to initiate multinational cooperation on distributed synthetic training (DST), with the aim of delivering high-quality, secure, and immersive operational training opportunities at the team, collective, joint, and coalition level. This milestone is rooted in longstanding work by the NATO Modelling and Simulation Group (NMSG), which has developed and standardised the technologies necessary to federate virtual mission training environments across nations and military domains.

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?? New edition of the NATO STO Review

The STO has released the latest edition of the NATO STO Review, our peer-reviewed journal. This special edition features select papers from the 17th NATO Operations Research & Analysis (OR&A) Conference, held last year at The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.

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?? New publications

• Visualization Design for Communicating Defence Investment Uncertainty and Risk

?? On the radar...

• Ramstein Aerospace Medicine Summit (RAMS), 18-21 March 2025, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany; deadline for abstract submissions: 6 December
• International Conference on Military Communication and Information Systems (ICMCIS), 13-14 May 2025, Oneiras (Portugal); abstract deadline: 22 December
• Scoping workshop: “A System of Systems Approach to Multi-domain Defence Warfare", 15-17 January 2025, Lisbon (Portugal); register by 22 November
• Research symposium: "Enhancing Energy Security, Resilience, Capabilities and Interoperability", 12-14 November, virtual; register by 11 November