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Research and knowledge exchange

Trusted Research

Providing advice to researchers on how they can protect themselves and their research when engaging in international research collaborations.

Here at the ºìÐÓÊÓƵ we believe that collaborating internationally is fundamental to delivering world class research and as such we are committed to joining forces with researchers around the world to work on the global challenges that we all face. Whilst this level of international engagement provides a multitude of benefits, it is also important to recognise the potential risks and to take proportionate action to mitigate them in order to safeguard our research. Over recent years, changes in the global geopolitical environment have resulted in an increased focus among universities, funders and the UK government on the risks that researchers and universities can be exposed to when working with partners overseas such as:

  • threats to national and border security
  • breach of legal and regulatory requirements (including the terms of funding agreements and contracts)
  • reputational risks for researchers and institutions 
  • financial loss (including barring from holding certain sources of funding) 
  • constraint of academic freedom and freedom of speech or interference with academic discourse
  • loss or compromising of data and intellectual property
  • breaching of cyber and physical security systems

The (which includes specific ) was launched in 2019 by the UK Government's National Protective Security Authority (NPSA) and is designed to help researchers, UK universities and industry partners make informed decisions when collaborating with international partners. The campaign was developed in consultation with the sector and aims to raise awareness of the possible security-related issues when engaging in international research collaborations and provides advice on how to mitigate potential risks in order to protect researchers and their work from threats such as theft, misuse and exploitation.

NPSA Trusted Research introduction video:

The Trusted Research campaign is particularly relevant to researchers in STEM subjects, dual-use technologies, emerging technologies and commercially sensitive research areas but here at Sussex we strongly recommend that all our academic colleagues familiarise themselves with this information.  The main security and due diligence-related considerations highlighted in the Trusted Research campaign can be summarised into the following three categories:

Assessing partner suitability

International research collaborations provide partners with access to people, IT infrastructure, and research that may be sensitive or have sensitive applications. It is therefore important to assess the suitability of potential partners before entering into an agreement with them by carrying out due diligence checks.

Due diligence is defined as the investigation, or exercise of care, that a reasonable business or person is expected to take before entering into an agreement or contract with another party. In the context of international research collaborations, due diligence involves the gathering of information on a potential partner including their background and connections in order to form a risk assessment of working with that third party. Furthermore, it is important that the scope and scale of the due diligence undertaken is proportionate to the level of risk and each institutions risk appetite. Once a collaboration has been entered into, due diligence extends to ensuring compliance with the terms of the agreement and any other associated funder requirements and implementing the agreed risk management and mitigation actions during the lifetime of the research project.

Here at Sussex, our Research Development team use due diligence checklists and questionnaires to gather information on prospective international partners/funders and identify potential risks. You can contact our Research Development team at: research_support@sussex.ac.uk. Alternatively, if your query is regarding the due diligence checks carried out on philanthropic gifts or donations to the University from a third party, these are handled by our Development and Alumni Relations Office.

As part of the due diligence checking process, researchers should also consider whether the proposed collaboration could give rise to any conflicts of interest in relation to other research projects they are involved in, contracts they are party to or organisations and countries they may be affiliated with.

For further guidance on assessing partner suitability, the National Protective Security Authority (NPSA) have produced a helpful (pdf) which provides a list of questions that researchers can ask themselves in order to help evaluate their potential research collaborations.

Compliance with legal and regulatory frameworks

Due to changes in the global geopolitical environment in recent years, international collaborative research has become incre