The Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies (CMSS) is an interdisciplinary research centre at the University of Calgary focusing on military, defence and security issues. CMSS has more than 50 students at the Masters and PhD level with 17 senior research fellows, 27 research fellows, 80 alumni and 5 staff members. The CMSS mission is to promote and develop excellence in military, security and defence studies. David Bercuson is the current director of CMSS.
CMSS is a graduate-level program, currently offering four degrees: MSS thesis-based, MSS course-based, MSS Co-op, and PhD. An application to hold a formal PhD program within CMSS was approved by the University of Calgary Faculty of Social Science. (Now Faculty of Arts) The Masters program is currently completed by thesis, course work or co-op. Masters in Strategic Studies (MSS) thesis-based is a two-year program consisting of one year of seminar courses, and a second year of thesis writing and defence; whereas, course-based students complete a second year of seminar study. The Co-op program for Master's students differs in that they work in a security and defence related job for eight months of their second year.
The Strategic Studies Program was established in 1981. It is part of the Department of National Defence's nationwide network of Security and Defence Forum (SDF) research Centres, a network of Centres specializing in defence and security studies across Canada. It was renamed the Centre for Military and Strategic Studies in 1999. CMSS is part of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Calgary, draws from external departments such as Political Science, History, Economics, Anthropology, and Geomatics.
The Centre is partners with the University of Calgary School of Public Policy and the Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute. CMSS also has a collaborative relationship with the University of Calgary's Institute for Security, Privacy and Information Assurance (ISPIA) and has an exchange program with the Helmut Schmidt University in Hamburg, Germany. CMSS is affiliated with the Canadian Forces, Department of National Defence, the Arctic Institute of North America, and the Calgary business community.