It was great seeing so many familiar faces and meeting so many new ones at the first European Flagship Conference on Research Security in Brussels. Over three days more than 500 researchers, policy makers, and practitioners discussed the why and the how of research security. It's all been said already? Continuing to share insights, learning from each other’s approaches, discussing critically the pros and cons, thus building up a learning community is what makes international research collaboration possible. 

Our Key Takeaways:

•            Risk defines our – the universities' – work. Otherwise, we would not be able to push the boundaries. Risk assessment is to think about what risks we are willing to take and how to potentially mitigate them.

•            Research security is a collective effort: many of our closest partners have established research security structures, further develop those – and they expect the same from their partners. Building communities of practice is key in this endeavour.

•            With increased efforts to strengthen Europe's resilience and sovereignty, research security will also become significantly more important in European research funding programmes, amongst others it will be enshrined in the future European Research Area (ERA)-Act.

 

During the conference, the European Commission has announced three key initiatives to be launched next year:

1.           the establishment of a new European Centre of Expertise on Research Security inside the European Commission

2.           the creation of a due diligence platform to help researchers to assess risks of international cooperation

3.           a new common methodology for Member States to test the resilience of their research-performing organisations

The conference made clear that research security will remain a key topic for universities and policymakers alike. Strengthening awareness, exchanging experiences, and developing proportionate approaches are essential to ensure that international cooperation continues to thrive for the good of addressing the global challenges.

 

Date: October 28 to 30, 2025.

Location: Brussels, Belgium

Organizers: The European Commission and 12 European Research and Innovation (R&I) stakeholder associations