If your institution doesn’t have the capacity set up for research security, you either over-regulate out of fear, or you accept under-protection out of naivety.

by Frank Lehner

If your institution doesn’t have the capacity set up for research security, you either over-regulate out of fear, or you accept under-protection out of naivety. Institutions have to find a balance.

Research security has moved into the centre of attention of our daily life at facilities like DESY. Everything which is needed to make research open, but also secure; it takes knowledge, competences and structures. That is an issue, institutions need to learn and adapt to. If your institution doesn’t have the capacity set up for that, you either over-regulate out of fear, or you accept under-protection out of naivety. Institutions have to find a balance. The aim is that institutions can keep their autonomy in deciding on these cooperations.

There are limitations of science diplomacy when it comes to a hot conflict, to a war – which we have in Europe at the moment. The question is how to take a balanced view on that from a science diplomacy angle. It needs some differentiated response. What type of cooperation do you suspend? Which ones do you keep open? These are complicated questions. And even more complicated: When can you start to open it again? On the long term, I’m convinced that sanctions will not help. Short term is another question, but long term, I think that in the end, we harm science.

Frank Lehner

Frank Lehner, who holds a Ph.D. in experimental physics, is currently the Head of Directorate’s Office, Deutsches Elektronen Synchrotron (DESY), Hamburg. International cooperation has been his focus for years.

About