We have initiated a new research programme that seeks to correlate features of the crystal structures of energetic materials (explosives, propellants) with their sensitivities to initiation by impact and shock. The ultimate aim is to develop a methodology for predicting the sensitivities of energetic materials based on their crystal structures. The development and validation of such a model would be of immense value to industrial and academic efforts to produce safer materials, and the approach has the potential to revolutionise the targeted design of materials. The firts aim is to investigate experimentally the vibrational properties of selected energetic materials for the validation and enhancement of theoretical models of impact and shock sensitivity using inelastic neutron scattering. The second aim is to validate the calculations of vibrational properties in molecular materials.