Understanding Trusted Research

International research collaboration can come with risks. In this blog post, the Research Integrity, Governance and Ethics (RIGE) team help us understand Trusted Research and export controls.

‘Trusted Research’ is a term used in the research sector to mean protecting the UK’s intellectual property, sensitive research, people and infrastructure from potential theft, manipulation and exploitation.

You’ll often see it referred to alongside ‘export controls’. In a research context, these minimise the risks associated with sending strategic goods, technology, software, or expertise to a location outside of the UK (or even within the UK in some cases).

Myth: This limits academic collaboration.

Reality: These processes and regulations are here to facilitate academic collaboration by mitigating for risks inherent in international research work.

Myth: This doesn’t apply to me.

Reality: This is relevant to a lot of people, especially researchers in STEM subjects. Intangible items such as reports, data and presentations at conferences can also be subject to export controls.

We’re here to help you navigate Trusted Research and export controls. If your research is STEM focused, and you are working with an international partner, your supervisor should have referred your project to the RIGE team for a Trusted Research assessment. Our assessment includes mitigation measure to ensure that our international research projects are conducted securely and in line with the UK’s regulatory framework. The RIGE team will occasionally request that PhD researchers assigned to higher risk projects attend export control training sessions, so if you feel you require further support in understanding this issue, please contact resgov@cardiff.ac.uk

We have put together a couple of scenarios to demonstrate how Trusted Research and export controls could impact your work.

Scenario 1

A PhD student was conducting research with a UK based military company on Unmanned Aerial Systems. A Trusted Research assessment via RIGE had been requested by the student’s supervisor which had concluded that the research was controlled and that the project team should attend a session on export controls to understand their obligations when working with controlled ‘items’.

During the session, the student was informed that despite the research being UK based, as the research was ‘controlled’ they were required to adhere to the information management plan in place to govern the project. The plan prohibited the exchange of information with anyone outside on the UK project team. The student was advised that sharing project data outside of the UK would require an export control licence.

At the end of the first year of the project, the industrial partner asked the PhD student to share some of their results with the project team. A hybrid presentation was arranged to allow attendance in-person and online. The student noticed that one of the invited attendees had not previously been a member of the of the research team, and further enquiry revealed that they were a colleague from a European site who wanted to attend remotely. As the colleague was located overseas the PhD student informed the partner that any exchange of controlled information would constitute an export and would therefore require a licence. The invitation to attend was withdrawn from the overseas colleague.

Scenario 2

A postdoctoral researcher, who obtained a PhD in advanced materials from an overseas university, was conducting extensive research in a UK university into the application of graphene as a protective material.

The postdoctoral researcher reached out to their former PhD supervisor at the overseas university, who was an expert in the application of graphene as a construction material. Their former PhD supervisor emphasised that to understand the UK project’s requirements, the full research aims and findings would need to be shared.

Before any data exchange, the postdoctoral researcher consulted with their institution’s professional services team. The team helped them navigate the university’s collaborations policy, which required consideration of UK export controls and sanctions. Through this process, it was established that due to the potential dual-use application of graphene as a protective material, the research would be subject to export control. It was also discovered that the overseas university was subject to UK sanctions.

Recognising that the collaboration couldn’t go ahead, the postdoctoral researcher informed the UK university that whilst there had been contact with a sanctioned university, no intellectual property had been transferred and they would seek alternative partners with which to continue their research.

The National Protective Security Authority (NPSA) have also published some short new videos intended to aid academic institutions understand and mitigate security risks arising from research projects:

• Authoritarian Government 
• Overseas Presentation and Government Approach
• Identifying Export Controls and Sanctions

We would also recommend referring to the National Security Protective Authority’s Trusted Research Guidance for Academia.