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. 

Gain-of-function experiments on pathogens

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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. 

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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.  

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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? 

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. 

KEFs are an important instrument in strengthening researchersself-responsibility in dealing with and in mitigating risks of misuse in their own research, e.g. through counseling and competence building. 

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. 

KEFs can legitimize security-relevant research, for example in international collaborations, through ethical evaluations as part of their consultations, thereby safeguarding researchers. 

By providing transparency and promoting ethical reflection through interdisciplinary deliberation processes and public events, KEFs can help strengthen public confidence in research freedom. 

Events

Forum for the Committees for Ethics in Security-Relevant Research

Munich, 5TH September 2024

At the fourth KEF Forum, which the Joint Committee organised in cooperation with the Bundeswehr Institute of Microbiology at the Historisches Kolleg in Munich, KEF members and other contact persons for handling security-relevant research were once again given the opportunity to exchange experiences and challenges of their advisory work in a confidential setting, particularly with regard to the risks of international research cooperation and the civilian clause debate.

Publications

Scientific Freedom and Security Interests in Times of Geopolitical Polarisation

November 2024

The fifth activity and status report of the Joint Committee on the Handling of Security-Relevant Research of the DFG and Leopoldina builds on its previous reports to present currently discussed security-relevant research areas and the framework conditions for security-relevant research in Germany. The report focuses on the assessment of the risks of international research cooperation and the strengthening of dual-use research in light of the politically proclaimed turning point (Zeitenwende). It summarizes the national and international debates on research integrity, research security and the civil clauses at German universities, presents the activities of the Joint Committee and the Committees for Ethics in Security-Relevant Research (KEFs) over the last two years, attempts to classify the possible role of the KEFs and the Joint Committee in this complex field of tension and provides perspectives for the coming years.