UA Little Rock Receives $5 Million Award to Advance Cognitive Security Research
Dr. Nitin Agarwal, Maulden-Entergy Chair and Donaghey Distinguished Professor of Information Science at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, has received a $5 million research award from the U.S. Department of War to advance innovative approaches for protecting communities from online influence campaigns and other emerging cognitive threats.
The project focuses on developing socio-computational methods to strengthen community resilience against cognitive attacks. These attacks include coordinated online efforts to manipulate beliefs, influence behavior, and spread harmful narratives through social media and digital platforms. The research builds on nationally recognized work underway at UA Little Rock’s Collaboratorium for Social Media and Online Behavioral Studies (COSMOS) Research Center, which Agarwal founded and directs.
The COSMOS Research Center at UA Little Rock conducts interdisciplinary research focused on social computing, AI-enabled socio-cognitive threat mitigation, narrative analytics, online behavioral modeling, and cognitive security.
The award was championed through support from U.S. Sen. John Boozman, who highlighted the importance of the research to national security.
“I am pleased to support UA Little Rock and its Collaboratorium for Social Media and Online Behavioral Studies,” Boozman said. “This award recognizes the significance of this program to our national security. The important research conducted here will enhance our ability to counter the use of novel social media tactics by foreign extremists and terrorist groups threatening the United States and our allies.”
Agarwal said the funding will allow researchers to continue developing advanced tools and capabilities to better understand how online narratives influence behavior and how communities can build resilience against coordinated manipulation efforts.
“We are extremely grateful for the support from UA Little Rock leadership and U.S. Sen. John Boozman for championing this vital research,” Agarwal said. “This funding allows the COSMOS Research Center to continue advancing analytical capabilities that strengthen our nation’s defense against cognitive threats.”
As social media platforms increasingly shape public discourse, coordinated influence operations have emerged as a growing challenge for governments, organizations, and communities. The project seeks to provide science-driven approaches for detecting harmful narratives, understanding how they spread through online networks, and informing effective intervention strategies before they result in real-world consequences.
“Social media has evolved into a contested cognitive battlespace where narratives can be weaponized to manipulate beliefs, sow discord, and influence collective behavior at unprecedented speed,” Agarwal said. “This project aims to strengthen community resiliency by developing computational methods that help identify harmful narrative dynamics early, understand how they spread across networks, and inform effective intervention strategies.”
The project will advance research in six key areas, including narrative and network modeling, toxicity in online communities, mob dynamics, churn analysis, contextual network characterization, and large-scale data collection and dashboarding.
Researchers will develop new methods to analyze how narratives emerge and evolve across digital ecosystems, examine how online communities amplify coordinated campaigns, and adapt epidemiological modeling techniques to better understand the spread of toxicity in online environments.
In addition to advancing research, the initiative will support workforce development and training opportunities in big data analytics, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and security applications, helping prepare the next generation of AI and cybersecurity professionals in Arkansas and beyond.
The award continues a longstanding partnership between the COSMOS Research Center and the U.S. Department of War in advancing research at the intersection of artificial intelligence, social computing, and national security.
With this award, UA Little Rock continues to expand its national research footprint, leveraging expertise in artificial intelligence and social computing to develop solutions that strengthen communities and enhance security in an increasingly connected world.