Checklist on knowledge security compulsory for international and military/security collaboration

The checklist for knowledge security (KST checklist) has been made compulsory by the University of Twente for virtually all formal forms of international collaboration and for specific national partners in the military and security sector. This step strengthens compliance with legislation and regulations concerning export control, sanctions and knowledge risks.

Scope of application

The checklist is now compulsory for:

To make the KST checklists compulsory for different forms of international cooperation:

• (formal) bilateral or multilateral cooperation
• Projects with international partners (including investments in projects or in partners)
• Providing courses and micro-credentials on the international education market
• Providing tailor-made courses for one (or several) partners
• Submitting grant applications with international partners

In addition, the checklist is also compulsory for cooperation within the Netherlands with the Ministry of Defence and for cooperation with Dutch companies or research organisations that are primarily active in the military and security sector. The same checklists can be used for this purpose.

The checklist is not compulsory for individual scientific cooperation, as long as this is not formalised in an institutional or contractual agreement. Academics still may ask for support or advice in such cases.

Why this measure?

The checklist serves as an initial tool to help us classify projects as low, medium or high risk. The checklist is used to assess risks in the area of export control and sanctions. The assessment criteria are based on the National Knowledge Security Guidelines and are in line with the uniform criteria for knowledge security developed within the Dutch knowledge sector. The checklist also contains various questions specifically designed to signal specific moral dilemmas in relation to a partner, a technology or a project proposal .

The use of adequate knowledge security procedures will increasingly become a strict condition for funding organisations (such as NWO) and clients, including the Ministry of Defence. This is already evident in calls for proposals focused on sensitive technology issued by organisations such as NWO.

How does it work?

There are three checklists available: (a) one for collaboration with a single international partner, (b) one for offering courses and micro-credentials, and (c) one for collaboration in projects within an international consortium.

A checklist submitted online at least two weeks before the planned deadline will always be assessed on time. If checklists are submitted one to two weeks before the deadline, the assessment may still take place, but this is not guaranteed and depends on the available capacity within the teams during those weeks. Checklists submitted less than a week before the deadline will generally not be assessed.

An assessed checklist is a prerequisite for submitting an application. If a checklist has not been assessed (in time), it is not permitted to submit an application to the funding organisation. Without a completed assessment, it is also not possible to submit proposals for sensitive technology calls or to enter into formal collaborations with partners in the military and security sector.

The online checklists and the process of submitting them can be found at https://www.utwente.nl/en/service-portal/international-affairs/knowledge-safety-export-control (login required). If you have any questions that are not being answered on this website, you may send an email to knowledge-safety@utwente.nl.