Together for research security: new ways in Germany!

Together for research security: new ways in Germany!

What happens in the world of science? Today, on June 17, 2025, numerous heads of the research community gathered for the international conference of the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR), under the motto "Joining Forces to Safeguard Research". The President of the Science Ministers' Conference, Bettina Martin, kept the keynote speech and emphasized the urgency how important a more resilient and responsible research landscape is for Germany. Challenges such as global crises and geopolitical tensions demand rethinking in science.

One of the central issues of the conference was the future design of the research landscape, which requires a balanced relationship between protection and freedom in research. Martin praised the recently adopted position paper from the Science Council, which shows a clear path to a secure and at the same time open research environment. "Research security must be regarded as a project for society as a whole," she emphasized and called on a continuous exchange between science, politics and security authorities. All findings of the conference should flow into a stakeholder process in order to create a memorandum on research security that would like to ensure the protection of scientific activities against misuse, espionage and other security -relevant risks without endangering the freedom of science.

Together for more security in research

What about the legal support of research? According to the BMBF website, it is one of the most urgent tasks to check the existing instruments and structures of research security for their effectiveness in order to prevent unwanted developments such as the drainage of know-how and unlawful foreign influence. The BMFTR has put the lead motif "as open as possible, as closed as necessary" in order to address the challenges in international cooperation. In addition, a central information platform is considered to help the science institutions to be better equipped in dealing with security -critical technologies and their risks.

The Munich Security Conference 2024 and the annual report of the Expert Commission Research and Innovation have already suggested to question the strict separation between civil and military research. New funding incentives for cooperations could be developed that emphasize the synergies between these two areas more - without being targeted to promote military research.

comments on international cooperation

Another central point of the discussion was the need for a reassessment to reconcile scientific freedom with the security policy interests. Germany needs a strategic approach to ensure technological sovereignty in key fields. This also includes promoting sensitivity and self -regulation in the science areas so that a broader public is created for the risks in research.

The threats are complex - they range from abuse of civil research to unwanted influence by foreign actors. The strategies developed at the BMFTR are intended to increase sensitivity to the concerns of research security and promote the dialogue between the actors of science.

While the conference was a call for joint effort in research security, it will be crucial on how these high -tackled goals can be put into practice. Protecting research is not just a task for science itself, but a common concern of the entire society.

More details can be found on the pages of KMK , bmbf and Cooperation International .