Science needs freedom, freedom entails responsibility!
What is security-relevant research?
Security-relevant research includes scientific work that has the potential to produce knowledge, products or technologies that can be misused by third parties to harm human dignity, life, health, freedom, property, the environment or peaceful coexistence. This is designated as “of concern” if the misuse can be immediate and the potential damage is significant.
Tasks and objectives of the Joint Committee
The Joint Committee on the Handling of Security-Relevant Research is a body established by the DFG and the Leopoldina to raise awareness of the dual-use of research results, the responsible handling of security-relevant research, and the self-regulation of the sciences in this regard in the long term. The committee supports the implementation of the corresponding recommendations of the DFG and Leopoldina on “Scientific Freedom and Scientific Responsibility”. This includes in particular the establishment and work of local Committees for Ethics in Security-Relevant Research at German research institutions. At the same time, the Joint Committee serves to exchange experiences.
Committees for Ethics in Security-Relevant Research (KEFs)
In accordance with the joint “Recommendations for Handling Security-Relevant Research” of the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the Leopoldina, more than 120 research institutions, organizations and professional societies have now established KEFs to advise researchers and research institutions on questions concerning security-relevant aspects of their research.
Why is responsible handling of research risks important?
Freedom of research, which is protected by the German Basic Law, enables researchers to find scientific questions for themselves within the scope of legal freedom and to work on them on their own responsibility. However, freedom of research does not apply unconditionally. Researchers have a special ethical responsibility because of their freedom, knowledge and experience. They must be aware of the danger of misuse of research, and they must weigh the opportunities of research against its risks for human dignity, life and other important goods.
What can KEFs do for researchers and research institutions?
Sensitization
KEFs can sensitize researchers to security-relevant aspects of their own work, e.g. by offering advice and regular events on research areas at risk of misuse.
Self-responsibility
KEFs are an important instrument in strengthening researchers‘ self-responsibility in dealing with and in mitigating risks of misuse in their own research, e.g. through counseling and competence building.
Funding requirement
KEFs can help to classify research projects ethically and thus create the prerequisite for the review of funding applications in research areas that are particularly at risk of misuse.
Safeguarding
KEFs can legitimize security-relevant research, for example in international collaborations, through ethical evaluations as part of their consultations, thereby safeguarding researchers.
Reflection and transparency
By providing transparency and promoting ethical reflection through interdisciplinary deliberation processes and public events, KEFs can help strengthen public confidence in research freedom.
