NDU Student Writing Awards

Secretary of Defense National Security Essay Competition

National Defense University (NDU) Press will host the 17th Annual SECDEF National Security Essay Competition for Academic Year 2022-2023, culminating in the final round of judging in May 2023. This competition challenges students at joint professional military education (JPME) institutions to research and write scholarly essays about significant aspects of national security strategy.

The purpose of this competition is to stimulate thinking about national security strategy, promote well-written research, and contribute to a broader security debate among professionals. This competition encourages in-depth research, analysis, and critical thinking on general national security strategy topics. Essays should be a maximum of 8,000 words and must be original, not previously published, and completed during the academic year. Entries cannot be submitted for publication to any other journal or academic press concurrent with these competitions. Two or more students may coauthor an entry.

Submission

  • Students submit papers through their appropriate college/school, which then nominates papers for the essay competitions. All submissions must be received by NDU Press not later than April 21, 2023.

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Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS) National Defense and Military Strategy Essay Competitions

National Defense University (NDU) Press will host the 42nd Annual CJCS Essay Competition for Academic Year 2022-2023, culminating in the final round of judging in May 2023. This competition challenges students at joint professional military education (JPME) institutions to research and write scholarly essays about significant aspects of national defense and military strategy.

The purpose of this competition is to stimulate thinking about national defense and military strategy, promote well-written research, and contribute to a broader security debate among professionals. Candidates can either submit a Strategic Research Paper or a Strategy Article. A Strategic Research Paper encourages in-depth research, analysis, and critical thinking on general defense and military security topics and must be a maximum of 5,000 words. The Strategy article is a maximum of 1,500 words, and is expected to be a scholarly but tightly focused research paper.

Submission

  • Students submit papers through their appropriate college/school, which then nominates papers for the essay competitions. All submissions must be received by NDU Press not later than April 21, 2023.

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NDU Women, Peace, and Security Student Research and Writing Competition

Criteria for Selection

As part of NDU’s commitment to implement the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) Strategy, students are invited to participate in the annual WPS research and writing competition. Students can submit research papers, theses, or written assignments, from any of their NDU courses for award consideration. Winning papers will address one or more of the following areas:

How a gendered understanding, perspective and/or approach relate to: Advancing peace, national security, economic and social development, and/or international cooperation; Conflict resolution; Peacebuilding; Conflict prevention; Protection of rights; Protection from gender-based harms; Protection of women and girls during and after conflict; Access to relief and recovery; Humanitarian Assistance/Disaster Relief; Leadership; Counterterrorism efforts; Gender equality in military, law enforcement, and other security services.  

Research Paper Guidelines

  • Candidates must be enrolled at NDU during the 2022-2023 academic year.  
  • Submissions must reflect graduate-level writing, be free of errors, and suitable for publication. 
  • Papers must be submitted to one of the committee members listed below no later than May 1, 2023. 
  • See additional WPS Competition instructions

Award

The winner will be awarded a Certificate of Achievement signed by NDU-P.  The selection committee reserves the right to award an Honorable Mention to a runner up. Winners may also be invited by partner organizations to present their research to a wider audience. 

Resources

NDU Library’s Women Peace and Security website: https://ndu.libguides.com/MERLN_WPS (*Requires student account)

Questions and Submissions

For any questions, and to submit your paper, please contact Dr. John Yaeger, Academic Affairs.