New guidelines to protect research from misuse
Background checks on researchers and PhD students from high-threat countries will become part of the recruitment procedure at AU this autumn. Background checks are among the first of several measures to prevent the misuse of research and pressure on researchers to commit espionage.
![[Translate to English:] Brian Vinter](/fileadmin/_processed_/d/c/csm_Brian_Vinter_LK_16_1750f1c049.jpg)
The risk of foreign states gaining unauthorised access to data or using research for unwanted purposes is a very real. For this reason, in line with other Danish universities, Aarhus University is introducing new measures to protect research from misuse.
“As a university, we must do all we can to prevent adversary states from gaining access to sensitive research and the counselling on which the Danish government and parliament base their important decisions. Unfortunately, the university is part of the new geopolitical reality in which some regimes do not have the best interests of Denmark at heart," says Brian Vinter, vice-dean of Technical Sciences and chair of the group at AU working to implement the national URIS guidelines.
URIS is the acronym for the Danish committee on guidelines for international research and innovation collaboration.
The measures are designed to prevent misuse of university research and to safeguard researchers against unwanted attention, especially those who are at risk of pressure from their home countries.
How to manage background checks
HR at NAT/TECH handles background checks for all of AU, in collaboration with the hiring manager.
The immediate manager at AU fills out a form with questions about the type of research the potential employee will be working on, for example.
Using the form, HR will conduct a search based on open sources.
The head of department, in consultation with the dean, will then either approve or reject the applicant on this basis.
Background checks help
One of the first initiatives that AU will be introducing this year is a background check before hiring researchers and PhD students from countries that the Danish Security and Intelligence Service (PET) has designated as high-threat countries. These are currently Iran, China and Russia. The initiative has been run as a pilot project at Tech and Nat, and the screening tool has been developed in collaboration with the other Danish universities.
Although the recruitment procedure adds an additional step to the process, experience from the pilot projects at AU shows that the extra burden is not huge.
"There's no getting around the fact that the new guidelines will generate more tasks and increase workload. But we can’t just leave this to PET, for example, or any other administrative authority. Assessing a potential employee's research CV requires expertise, and we have to take on this task ourselves to ensure continued access to as much talent and research development as possible, including from high-threat countries," says Brian Vinter, and he points out that, in practice, only a few research areas require special attention, primarily in dual use technologies, where research can be used for both military and civilian purposes. These are most prevalent at Nat, Tech and Health, and probably less so at Arts and BSS.
"The reason we want to screen researchers from high-risk countries is that, according to PET, these researchers are at a higher risk of being contacted and put under pressure from their home countries. We’ve heard what PET are saying. But it's also important to stress that we have no reason to suspect our colleagues in general on the basis of their citizenship. Creating a healthy work culture is a shared responsibility," says Brian Vinter.
During autumn 2024, guidelines will be rolled out describing specific procedures for background checks when hiring employees and PhD students from high-threat countries. There will also be more initiatives, including procedures for how the university deals with international guests, and travel advice for researchers travelling to high-threat countries.
Vice-dean Brian Vinter answers questions about the URIS guidelines at Aarhus University:
Who decides when a country is a high-threat country from a research perspective?
PET identifies high-threat countries. As at 1 July, the high-threat countries to research are: Iran, Russia and China.
What does Aarhus University risk by collaborating with researchers from a high-threat country?
In the vast majority of cases, there is no risk in collaborating with researchers from countries identified by PET as high-threat countries. There are only a few areas where we need to pay special attention. These include in particular dual use areas - research with both military and civilian applications.
Should we be suspicious of foreign researchers when they ask (relevant) questions about dual-use research?
No. We shouldn't be wary of any researcher who asks relevant questions. We do checks at the front door.
Find more answers from Brian Vinter about URIS guidelines at AU.