Figures show universities take knowledge security seriously

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. 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% of cases. At Eindhoven University of Technology, the team rejects about 30% of the cases.
Full report on the NL Times site