The first European conference on research security also addresses the US

White and green beams of light sweep across the auditorium at TU Delft, while upbeat music blasts from the speakers. For a conference on research security, the opening ceremony is strikingly exuberant. Education Minister Rianne Letschert immediately picks up on this. “It feels as though we’re in a club and now you suddenly have to listen to my speech,” she jokes.

The fact that the minister travelled to Delft to open ENCORS underlines how important knowledge security has become in the scientific world in a short space of time. Whereas the term was barely used five years ago, dozens of European universities now have dedicated knowledge security teams or departments. Thirteen of them are jointly organising the conference, which is formally called the European Network Conference on Research Security and takes place on 26 and 27 May. TU Delft is not only the host, but also the driving force behind it.

“A trial,” is how knowledge security director Peter Weijland somewhat modestly describes this first conference as he takes the floor during the opening ceremony. The idea for ENCORS originated in Texas, he explains from the stage of the Aula. “There were so many Europeans gathered there that we asked ourselves: why cross the entire Atlantic Ocean to discuss knowledge security in a European context? Why not organise something ourselves?” This marked the start of two years of preparation.

Incidentally, this is not the very first European conference on knowledge security. In October 2025, European umbrella organisations in research and innovation organised a conference on the same topic in Brussels. ENCORS is, however, the first knowledge security conference organised by universities themselves.

Exchange of ideas

During a short break between two sessions, Weijland explains the difference to Delta: “The Brussels conference focused largely on regulation, whereas ENCORS is geared towards day-to-day practice through networking and knowledge exchange. We look at questions such as: what does it actually mean for a researcher when you have to comply with knowledge security requirements? What impact does that have on your research process, publications, and travel? Hearing how others tackle these issues naturally gives you ideas you can implement at your own university.”

Not only European participants travelled to Delft to learn from one another. Delegations from South Korea, Japan, Canada, New Zealand and the United States were also in attendance.

Invasion of Ukraine

Because of this emphasis on knowledge exchange, the programme was deliberately practical in nature. Breakout sessions focused on concrete case studies predominate. For example, Martin Sandhop of Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron shared how his organisation scaled back scientific cooperation with Russia following the invasion of Ukraine. “We approached it case by case. Some colleagues found it difficult to sever not only scientific collaboration, but also personal ties with Russian counterparts. That process therefore also happened gradually.” Later that afternoon, a Czech delegation explained how knowledge security policies developed by Charles University in Prague and the Czech Academy of Sciences are currently being rolled out nationally at other universities.

According to Weijland, another driver behind the conference is the way in which knowledge security policy in the United States differs from that in Europe. In the US, it is organised in a top-down manner, with the government, for instance, maintaining a blacklist of prohibited foreign institutions. In Europe, by contrast, the emphasis is on self-regulation. Universities must conduct their own due diligence on foreign partners and make their own assessments. In her speech,

Letschert compares this approach to how Dutch parents teach their children to ride a bicycle. “The only way to learn to cycle is by doing it. You have to give your child enough freedom to learn, while also protecting them sufficiently to avoid accidents. Finding that balance is not always easy.”

Geopolitical shifts

During plenary lectures alternating with the breakout sessions, speakers from knowledge institutions in France, Austria, Finland and Italy addressed ongoing geopolitical shifts. Whereas the United States was long seen as an obvious scientific partner, speakers noted that it is becoming increasingly difficult to separate geopolitical interests from science.

Sinologist Susanne Weigelin-Schwiedrzik of the University of Vienna warned that Europe must avoid inadvertently giving the United States, Russia or China a military advantage through scientific collaboration. Political scientist Stéphanie Balme of Sciences Po argued that the United States is experiencing increasing political influence over science, including challenges to academic freedom.

‘Our relationship with the United States is somewhat ambivalent’

Will the changing stance of the White House filter through into European knowledge security policy? It is still too early to say, Weijland believes. “It’s somewhat ambivalent, because we still have strong ties with colleagues there. They themselves hope for better political times, but it is clear that a very different political wind is blowing—one to which we in Europe feel little affinity. For now, there are still Americans at this conference, and I’m glad they are here.”