Science Europe Report on Research Security: Key Messages and Actions from the Workshop Series

RESEARCH SECURITY Science Europe Report on Key Messages and Actions from the January–July 2025 Workshop Series Research Security Report of 2025 Workshop Series Colophon October 2025 ‘Science Europe Report on Research Security: Key Messages and Actions from the Workshop Series’ DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17433203 This report reflects the outcomes of a series of workshops on research security that took place between January and June 2025. The series was co-organised by: • UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) • Dutch Research Council (NWO) • National Science Centre, Poland (NCN) • Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) • Science Europe For further information, please contact the Science Europe Office: [email protected] © Copyright Science Europe 2025. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution4.0 International License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original authors and source are credited, with the exception of logos and any other content marked with a separate copyright notice. A copy of this license is available at creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Lead Author: Theodora Famprikezi (Science Europe) Co-authors: Ruhena Begum, Hannah Feakes, Benjamin Sharman (UKRI), Berry Bonenkamp, Joyce Kuipers (NWO), Magdalena Dobrzańska-Bzowska (NCN), Isabelle Verbaeys (FWO) Editors: Lidia Borrell-Damián (Science Europe), Berry Bonenkamp (NWO), Isabelle Verbaeys (FWO), Benjamin Sharman (UKRI), Justyna Woźniakowska (NCN) Editing and design: Iwan Groeneveld (Science Europe) Acknowledgements: Science Europe thanks the members of the Organising Committee of the Task Force for their active engagement and for kindly hosting the workshops, and to the Members of the Task Force on Research Security for their contributions and valuable insights throughout the workshop series. 3 Research Security Report of 2025 Workshop Series Table of Contents Executive Summary 4 Key policy messages on research security 4 Next steps for Science Europe and its Member Organisations 5 Introduction and Context 6 Policy Context 6 Activities of the Science Europe Task Force on Research Security 7 Roles and Responsibilities of National RPOs and RFOs 8 Key Policy Messages on Research Security 9 Actions by Science Europe Member Organisations 13 Ways Forward for ScienceEurope 14 Annex I: EU Initiatives 16 Annex II: Definition of Research Security 18 4 Research Security Report of 2025 Workshop Series Executive Summary International co-operation is a main component of scientific excellence in research and innovation. However, in recent years, there has been an increased focus or understanding of risks to national or economic security, with a number of different approaches and policies that aim to mitigate risks associated with research security starting to emerge across national governments, research funding and research performing organisations (RFOs and RPOs). Between January and June 2025, Science Europe Member Organisations convened a series of workshops to discuss these different approaches and their impact in national R&I ecosystems. Key policy messages on research security 1. International co-operation must be safeguarded. Research security measures should encourage and promote international co-operation that is open and safe. Although risk is unavoidable with bold and innovative research, it should be managed and mitigated rather than eliminated, to avoid impacting science. Balancing openness, security, and academic freedom is therefore the ongoing challenge as well as the overall objective. Researchers should be equipped with the relevant awareness and decision-making tools. 2. Defining boundaries is essential. There is no ‘one size fits all’ solution for adopting research security measures. Approaches need to be tailored and adjusted to national context and research sensitivity. However, to establish ‘good practice’ in research security, an agreement on common principles, definitions and terminology are required. Clear guidelines and ‘red lines’ for security practices are essential for RPOs and RFOs in defining their specific responsibilities. 3. Measures and due diligence should be proportionate. Proportionate risk mitigation, preparedness and due diligence should be encouraged, rather than the complete elimination of risk. This could include developing targeted questions to help identify and manage risks appropriately, raising awareness of potential risks amongst researchers and staff, and incorporating clear and flexible mechanisms to facilitate the resolution of issues in a timely manner. 4. Research security should be embedded through awareness-raising and culture change. RPOs and RFOs must embrace a cultural shift, embedding these concerns into their ethos, wider policies and approaches. Researchers 5 Research Security Report of 2025 Workshop Series should be encouraged to develop a more critical mindset at the earliest stage of the collaborations’ development and throughout the research lifecycle. Tools alone are not sufficient without properly trained staff capable of interpreting and analysing the data and red flags identified. RFOs can help manage problematic applications by having clearly articulated policies and supporting guidance, reducing further cost and administrative burden on the sector. 5. National R&I ecosystems require capacity-building. Investment should be made in dedicated in-house research security expertise and skills, and assign research security responsibility at the appropriate organisational levels. RPOs and RFOs may also benefit from independent national (or regional) advisory services to raise standards more widely. 6. Research security requires systemic support and a collaborative approach. Identifying opportunities for establishing communities of support and practice should be encouraged to account for the potential discrepancy in available resources and capabilities to address security concerns in larger and smaller institutions. National governments and the EU should also promote consistent messaging, actionable guidance, legal frameworks and clearly defined roles and responsibilities. Facilitating dialogue for stakeholders such as intergovernmental partners and the wider R&I sector is crucial to build trust as well as share information and increase awareness and capability. Next steps for Science Europe and its Member Organisations 1. Continue to facilitate dialogue within Science Europe in order to convene, discuss common challenges and exchange best practices. A dedicated taskforce will convene bi-annually and practical workshops on selected thematic areas will be organised ad hoc. 2. Create a repository of cases, good practices and tools mapping research security initiatives to allow Member Organisations to benefit from their collective intelligence and exchange of good practice. 3. Establish a Science Europe Centre of Support for Member Organisations that will focus on competence-building and learning through knowledge exchange, with the facilitation of workshops. 4. Continue collaboration and dialogue with the European Commission, with Science Europe continuing to be an active R&I stakeholder participating in all relevant consultations. 6 Research Security Report of 2025 Workshop Series Introduction and Context Policy Context International co-operation is a cornerstone of scientific excellence in research and innovation. However, there have been cases in recent years where projects were shut down, bilateral agreements terminated, and international collaboration halted due to real, potential, or perceived risks to national or economic security, or the undesirable transfer of knowledge and technology. There have also been cases where new co-operations did not take place because of research policies and changing conditions for academic research. At the same time, potential military application of the results of R&I projects originally conceived for civilian purposes (so-called ‘dual use’) is receiving growing attention, as reported in two independent expert reports on dual-use research and innovation (June, 2025). The European Union foresees adopting a ‘dual-use by design’ approach, integrating dual-use 1 research into the next EU Framework Programme and aligning it with the European Defence Fund. As a result, national governments and both research funding and research performing organisations (RFOs and RPOs) have started to develop a variety of different policies that aim to mitigate these types of risks. This brings increased constraints on international collaboration with certain actors or in certain research areas. There is a risk that researchers may choose to avoid potentially sensitive international partnerships due to the real or perceived risks involved or potential additional administrative burdens, while others may ignore these considerations altogether. Legal frameworks, clear policies, and guidance are needed to ensure effective and proportionate approaches to research security. For RFOs and RPOs, challenges lie in the limited existing legal frameworks and the ambiguity of relevant policies, especially when trying to balance values of openness and academic freedom with security. An additional challenge also comes from national governments, who may be inclined to approach security risks as a binary scenario and adopt disproportionate measures, or leave the risks unaddressed. To help navigate the (unavoidable) risks associated with international collaboration, a proactive ‘due diligence’ research security culture should be adopted across the research ecosystem, following proportionate measures such as risk appraisals, investment in capacity building and information-sharing amongst all involved stakeholders. This requires 1 European Union export control rules for dual-use goods and technology and Regulation (EU) 2021/821 of the European Parliament and of the Council (20 May 2021) are highly relevant to research security. 7 Research Security Report of 2025 Workshop Series collaboration between all stakeholders, including RPOs, RFOs, industry, and governments. According to the Council recommendation on enhancing research security, 2 Member States should engage with RPOs and RFOs when setting up measures to enhance research security. Safeguards can be introduced at different levels, from the project level to top-down restrictions, based on the risk category. At EU level, a series of initiatives is taking place, mostly co-ordinated by the European Commission (see Annex I). Enhancing research security is an ERA Action in the ERA Policy Agenda 2025–2027, under the priority for ‘a truly functioning internal market for knowledge’, towards an efficient and inclusive European R&I system. Activities of the Science Europe Task Force on Research Security The Member Organisations of Science Europe, comprising both RFOs and RPOs, have distinct yet complementary responsibilities to navigate, and their collaboration is essential in this regard. To facilitate this discussion, a series of workshops was held among a number of Science Europe Member Organisations between January and June 2025, initiated by Science Europe’s Task Force on Research Security: Workshop 1A 28 January Online Workshop 1B, hosted by FWO 18 February Brussels (BE) Workshop 2, hosted by UKRI 28 March London (UK) Workshop 3, hosted by NCN 12–13 June Kraków (PL) This report presents the main elements of discussion during the workshops. In this context, the report is not a formal position of Science Europe and/or its Member Organisations, due to the heterogeneity of their individual policies on research security. An organising committee that comprised representatives from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), the Dutch Research Council (NWO), the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO), the National Science Centre Poland (NCN), and Science Europe co-ordinated the organisation of the workshops. 2 On 24 January 2024, the European Commission issued a proposal for a Council recommendation (2024/0012(NLE)) on enhancing research security, as part of a package of proposals on economic security. The recommendation was adopted at the Competitiveness Council meeting of 23 May 2024. 8 Research Security Report of 2025 Workshop Series Roles and Responsibilities of National RPOs and RFOs Research performing and research funding organisations are responsible for developing and managing their international co-operation initiatives, with the support of their national government authorities. They should seek to introduce proportionate internal risk-appraisal and due-diligence procedures, assign responsibility for research security within the organisation, raise awareness through trainings, protect sensitive knowledge and research facilities, and take physical and virtual safeguards (such as compartmentalisation and robust cybersecurity measures), among others. This responsibility of RPOs and RFOs guided the internal discussion and sharing of best practices on the topic of research security. The participants’ approaches come from a range of positions and national contexts that drive their existing policies and capabilities. RPOs and RFOs face different challenges. For RPOs, the topics of discussion included (but were not limited to): international collaboration (funding, agreements, and contracts), research data and infrastructure (purchase of equipment/software, cyber security, access control), outgoing activities (travel, secondments), and incoming activities (recruitment, foreign delegations). Some of the main challenges that RPOs face in research security included the absence of a central information repository, limited institutional capacity, and a need for better training and guidance. For RFOs, challenges related to how requirements on research security are communicated and managed through their national systems and within their organisational remits and contexts. Key considerations include ensuring that measures are applied in a proportionate, consistent, transparent, and effective manner, as well as clarifying the role and responsibilities of RFOs in relation to RPOs, national governments, and other actors within their system (such as technical agencies or other regulatory bodies). 9 Research Security Report of 2025 Workshop Series Key Policy Messages on Research Security From the perspective of both RPOs and RFOs, the main aim is to safeguard international co-operation at a global scale, uphold academic freedom, and promote open science. Risk assessment and due-diligence approaches should build and protect resilient partnerships, while remaining proportionate to the risks and protecting the R&I system. Awareness building, ethical reflection, and balanced policy making are essential. The key messages for SE Member Organisations, together with the broader principles for responsible internationalisation3 – as set out in the Council recommendation – should be taken into consideration in enhancing research security. These messages included: 1. Safeguard international co-operation. Cases were reported where, as a response to perceived risks or ambiguity regarding international research partners, research collaboration decreased or sometimes even stopped, leading to missed opportunities for academic and scientific advancement. Research actors should be equipped to responsibly assess and handle the risks that come with collaborating internationally. However, identifying the right level of due diligence is vital, as well as the need for balanced approaches that do not unintentionally discourage global engagement or impact research openness and transparency. Risk management is very complex, and RPOs and RFOs face internal challenges such as uneven awareness, a limited sense of urgency in departments perceiving less exposure to risks and security challenges, and fragmented governance structures that affect the formal authority to implement research security policy. Research security measures should encourage and promote international co-operation that is open and safe. Although risk is unavoidable with bold and innovative research, it should be managed and mitigated rather than eliminated, to avoid impacting the pursuit of scientific knowledge. Research security measures should respect the institutional autonomy of research performing organisations and recognise the key role of research funding organisations. Balancing openness, security, and academic freedom is therefore the ongoing challenge as well as the overall objective. 3 Responsible internationalisation is a term increasingly used to promote relationship building in a world shaped by the growing impact of global challenges and geopolitical competition (Council of the European Union, 2023), Shih, T. (2024). 16 Research Security Report of 2025 Workshop Series Annex I: EU Initiatives At the EU level, a series of activities are already planned by the European Commission as a follow-up on the Council recommendation: 1. Using the European Research Area governance: the Commission will make full use of the governance structures of the European Research Area (ERA), to support implementation of the Recommendation. The work carried out in this context will support the Member States and the R&I sector in their efforts to develop coherent sets of policy measures and create support structures through peer learning and capacity building. The ERA policy agenda 2025–2027 includes a Priority Action on Enhancing Research Security. 2. Research Security Monitor 2025: A report prepared by the Commission provides a baseline of research security policies and measures. The report highlights interesting initiatives and actions, giving visibility to the R&I sector, through showcasing good practices. The Monitor presents observations on a governance level (EU/national/funders/sector), rather than a country-by-country approach. 3. European Flagship Conference on Research Security: The first European Flagship Conference on Research Security, taking place on 28–30 October 2025, was co-organised by the Commission, together with twelve R&I stakeholder organisations. Science Europe organised two sessions, one on the ‘Needs and responsibilities of RPOs and RFOs’, and a session jointly organised with the European Federation of Academies of Sciences and Humanites (ALLEA) on ‘Integrating academic freedom and research security’. 4. Establishing a Centre of Expertise on Research Security: A Centre of Expertise (as specified by Clause 18 of the Council Recommendation) will i) support the development of an evidence base for research security policy making, and ii) create a community of practice, including experts and practitioners. The Centre will provide analyses, impact studies, awareness-raising activities, and act as a network of experts and practitioners linking national support structures. The expectations of the research community are quite high regarding the Centre of Expertise; it should provide an EU-approved list of sources and databases, create the space to share intelligence, and promote research on research security. 5. Building blocks on risk appraisal: In 2024, the European Commission published a factsheet that addressed in more detail the issue of risk appraisal; it is a valuable resource for many RPOs and RFOs. 17 Research Security Report of 2025 Workshop Series A more extensive guidance document will aim to provide concrete guidance to RPOs, particularly for research managers and other research staff involved in international collaboration in third countries. 6. Collecting data on science, technology and innovation (STI) policies: In a joint initiative by the European Commission and the OECD, the 2025 edition of the STIP Compass collects qualitative and quantitative data on national trends in STI policy, covering internationalisation policies, and a thematic portal on research security. 18 Research Security Report of 2025 Workshop Series Annex II: Definition of Research Security According to the Council Recommendation, ‘Research security’ refers to anticipating and managing risks related to: a. the undesirable transfer of critical knowledge and technology that may affect the security of the Union and its Member States, for instance if channelled to military or intelligence purposes in third countries; b. malign influence on research where research can be instrumentalised by or from third countries in order to inter alia create disinformation or incite self-censorship among students and researchers infringing academic freedom and research integrity in the Union; c. ethical or integrity violations, where knowledge and technologies are used to suppress, infringe on or undermine Union values and fundamental rights, as defined in the Treaties. The text of the recommendation recognises that the “changing geopolitical context urgently requires a joint response from all Member States and the Commission to strengthen and exploit the research and innovation potential across the Union […] while preserving an open economy and pursuing a level-playing field and balanced reciprocal openness.” Moreover, hybrid threats may affect sectors but the research sector is considered particularly vulnerable, due to its values and practice of openness, academic freedom, institutional autonomy and worldwide collaboration. Science Europe AISBL RUE DE LA SCIENCE 14, 1040 BRUSSELS, BELGIUM Science Europe is the association of major research funding and research performing organisations in Europe. Our vision is for the European Research Area to have the optimal conditions to support robust education and research&innovation systems. We define long-term perspectives for European research and champion best-practice approaches that enable high-quality research for knowledge advancement and the needs of society. We are uniquely placed to lead advancements to the European Research Area and inform global developments through participation in research initiatives where science is a strong and trusted component of sustainable economic, environmental, and societal development. More information is available at www.scienceeurope.org @scienceeurope.org Science Europe @ScienceEurope @science-europe