Universities rejected hundreds of maybe risky international researchers, collaborations

In recent years, Dutch universities have rejected hundreds of international collaborations and applications from foreign researchers because they could pose too many risks, NOS reported after surveying the 10 universities most often confronted with dilemmas in the field of “knowledge security.”

Researchers and collaboration proposals were rejected based on the advice of special teams set up to prevent sensitive knowledge and technology from ending up in the wrong hands. The 68 Dutch higher education institutions also want to ensure that foreign powers like China, Russia, or Iran don’t gain influence on education and can’t pressure students. And international collaborations cannot put human rights at stake.

The Dutch institutions upped their efforts to increase security in 2022 when the National Coordinator for Counterterrorism and Security (NCTV) warned that foreign powers, China in particular, pose a risk. “Dutch companies, knowledge institutions, and scientists are the target of various (digital) attack campaigns on a large scale that try to capture high-quality technology,” the NCTV warned.

TU Delft, the largest technical university in the Netherlands, presents around 700 cases to its advisory team to check for risks every year. The team rejects approximately 15 percent of cases. At Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), the team rejects about 30 percent of the cases.

Sometimes, the teams will approve a case under certain conditions. For example, instructing Dutch researchers to remove sensitive information from their devices if they have to visit a high-risk country for the research.

The advisory teams base their assessments on fairly limited data - the information that the foreign candidate for a position provides, and the question of whether the field they are active in is sensitive, falls under international sanctions, or involves technology that can be used for military purposes or violating human rights. The higher education institutions cannot actually screen foreign researchers, according to NOS.

The Ministry of Education is working on a bill that will give Justis, the organization that issues certificates of good conduct (VOG), to screen foreign researchers. Minister Eppo Bruins of Education wants the screening results to be binding - anyone who doesn’t get the green light from Justis cannot be hired by a Dutch higher education institution.