On 12 May 2025, the German Science Council (Wissenschaftsrat) published a position paper called “Science and Security in Times of Global Political Upheaval”. This paper offers recommendations on how scientific cooperation can be organised responsibly during times of global crisis, ensuring that the science sector remains globally compatible.  

The position paper clarifies important terms in the public debate and looks at various dimensions of security issues in science. It particularly refers to the multiplication of potentially security-relevant areas ranging from biotechnology and extremism research to artificial intelligence and the blurriness of the boundaries between security-related and civilian research, which makes collaborations with critical partners particularly tricky and leads to difficult trade-offs that often overwhelm individual scientists and institutions.  

The paper also emphasises the need for the German science system to address the technological and global political developments, the multifaceted threats and the growing need for scientific solutions and calls for greater awareness of and a professional approach to knowledge risks as well as the systematic promotion of security-related research.  

Furthermore, it recommends German universities and research institutions to go beyond low-threshold personal checks and collegial counselling to implement structures for risk assessment to identify potential risks at an early stage based on cross-institutional models based on: 

• The establishement of a National Platform for Knowledge Security as a central contact point supporting scientific stakeholders quickly and unbureaucratically in the assessment of knowledge risks with comprehensive information. 
• Setting up a strategic dialogue forum linked to the National Security Council planned by the new Federal Government to carry out risk analyses and identify security-related research needs. 

The German Council of Science and Humanities' position paper positively highlighted the DAAD Centre of Excellence for International Academic Cooperation (KIWi), founded in 2019, and its advisory and networking work, which could be instrumental in the efforts to create the new structures. 

The topic of knowledge security has been high on the agenda in Nordic countries such as Finland, Norway and Sweden which lately adopted a series of measures addressing related challenges (see ACA Newsletter – Education Europe, March 2025 and December 2024). 

Link to the press release