Politicians are increasingly pushing for the facilitation of dual-use research, but university leaders are unsureMarch 7, 2024
Emily Dixon
German universities could face “severe” conflicts among academics and students if the country’s stringent division between military and civilian research is eroded, it has been warned, as politicians and advisory bodies call for a reassessment, motivated in large part by Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine.
Scores of German universities have signed up to what is known as the “civil clause”, a commitment not to do research that could be used for military purposes, and five of the country’s 16 states have embedded this principle in law.
But the 2024 annual report from the Commission of Experts for Research and Innovation (EFI), which advises the German government, calls for “synergies between military and civilian research [to] be made possible”, stating that “the strict separation that has been customary in Germany for decades needs to be fundamentally reconsidered and abolished where appropriate”, citing “increasing global threats”.
The EFI named the United States and Israel as examples of countries where “spillovers and dual use are deliberately promoted as they lead to increases in performance and efficiency in both the military and civilian sectors”.
Responding to the EFI report, research minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger pointed to the recommendation regarding military and civilian research, stating: “I would specifically like to have this discussion.”
Gerald Kirchner, head of the University of Hamburg’s Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker Centre for Science and Peace Research, told THE that universities “could run into severe inner conflicts and debates among professors and students” if they were to conduct dual-use research. More than 70 universities adhere to the civil clause, adopted after the Second World War in order to reckon with the role of German science during the Nazi regime.
The division between military and civilian research means German universities largely lack “competence for military research”, Professor Kirchner added. “They’re not attractive for military-based research funding.”
Michal Kucera, vice-president for research and transfer at the University of Bremen, said that, if the division were to be dissolved, universities would probably carry out “research that is motivated by military needs or applications” but was not “directly related to warfare”, such as work on secure communications or digital security.
“There is no research that you can name to me that is not potentially dual use,” Professor Kucera said. “Universities are already doing dual-use research.”
A similar debate is taking place at the European level, Professor Kucera noted. In a white paper released in January, the European Commission set out a range of options for boosting “research and development into technologies with dual-use potential”, suggesting that the successor to Horizon Europe could permit the funding of dual-use research.
A spokesperson for the German Rectors’ Conference (HRK) told Times Higher Education that it was “difficult to predict the extent to which the expected effects of a rapprochement between military and civilian research and development will actually materialise”, noting that the difference between “the civilian and military utilisation of research findings is generally not clear cut”.
“In the interests of academic freedom, it will be important that possible changes, particularly in the funding architecture, do not result in a kind of obligation for academic institutions to conduct military research,” the spokesperson continued, stressing that greater investment in military research “must not result in any impairment of civilian research or research that is still undefined in terms of purpose”.
emily.dixon@timeshighereducation.com
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Publicado en Science|Business
https://sciencebusiness.net/news/dual-use/german-science-minister-calls-rethink-strong-wall-between-civilian-and-military
El ministro alemán de Ciencia pide replantear el "fuerte muro" entre investigación civil y militar
20 Feb 2024 | Noticias
En la Conferencia de Seguridad de Múnich, Bettina Stark-Watzinger argumentó que la investigación está ahora en el centro de la rivalidad geopolítica. Pero cambiar el sistema de investigación alemán sigue siendo difícil
Por David Matthews
En un debate sin precedentes sobre la seguridad de la investigación celebrado en la Conferencia de Seguridad de Múnich, la Ministra de Ciencia alemana ha pedido que se reconsidere la tradicional separación entre investigación civil y militar.
La comparecencia de Bettina Stark-Watzinger en la Conferencia, más propia de generales que de ministros de Ciencia, es una muestra de la importancia que han adquirido las cuestiones de seguridad, especialmente en torno a China, en la política científica y de innovación.
"Es una señal clara de que la investigación es un factor geopolítico", afirmó Stark-Watzinger durante una mesa redonda el 16 de febrero.
Ya en 2016, el entonces Comisario de Investigación de la UE, Carlos Moedas, pregonaba el programa de investigación Horizonte 2020 de la UE como "abierto al mundo".
En 2024, tras la pandemia, la guerra de Ucrania y el nerviosismo europeo por los planes de China sobre Taiwán, el lema ha cambiado a "Tan abiertos como sea posible, tan cerrados como sea necesario", como dijo Stark-Watzinger.
Para ella, la pandemia fue el punto de inflexión clave que demostró el riesgo de la dependencia tecnológica y la necesidad de ser menos ingenuos en materia de cooperación en investigación.
En 2020, Europa dependió en un principio en gran medida de China para el suministro de equipos de protección individual, y Bruselas tuvo que luchar después por el suministro de vacunas de las multinacionales farmacéuticas.
"Si tienes tecnología y otros dependen mucho de ella, tienes poder. Así que la carrera tecnológica está en pleno apogeo, y tenemos que formar parte de ella", afirmó.
La conferencia de este año estuvo dominada por el debilitamiento de la posición de Ucrania en su guerra contra Rusia y por el temor a una nueva presidencia de Donald Trump en Estados Unidos, que podría incluso dejar a la UE expuesta a un ataque de Moscú si Trump se retracta de los compromisos de defensa mutua de la OTAN.
Por primera vez, la rivalidad tecnológica fue señalada como un punto geopolítico álgido en el informe anual de la conferencia sobre los desafíos a la seguridad.
En este contexto, Stark-Watzinger quiere que Alemania se replantee el "muro muy fuerte" que separa la investigación civil de la militar.
"Nadie debería verse obligado a hacer algo", dijo, "pero si miro a EE.UU. e Israel, [hay] una historia diferente allí... también tenemos que preguntarnos si todavía tenemos los instrumentos adecuados".
Una batalla cuesta arriba
Pero Stark-Watzinger puede enfrentarse a una ardua batalla en Alemania para integrar realmente la investigación civil y militar. Más de 70 universidades financiadas con fondos públicos tienen las llamadas cláusulas civiles, que les impiden trabajar en investigaciones relacionadas con el ejército.
A pesar de los llamamientos similares de Stark-Watzinger el año pasado y del líder de los conservadores de la oposición, Friedrich Merz, aún no hay señales de que se vaya a poner fin a este sistema. Las cláusulas civiles siguen siendo defendidas con firmeza por algunos grupos estudiantiles, y su fin forzoso podría vulnerar la autonomía universitaria.
En Bruselas se está produciendo un debate similar, con la Comisión Europea sugiriendo que el sucesor del programa de investigación Horizonte Europa podría permitir la investigación de doble uso.
En la actualidad, se trata de un programa totalmente civil, en el que la I+D militar se financia a través del Fondo Europeo de Defensa.
Recelos ante China
Sin embargo, la agenda de la seguridad en la investigación tiene menos que ver con Rusia que con China, a la que algunos atribuyen una posición de liderazgo tecnológico y militar gracias a las colaboraciones, a veces ingenuas y sesgadas, de académicos europeos.
"El mundo de la colaboración internacional en investigación ha cambiado radicalmente", afirmó Georg Schütte, Secretario General de la Fundación Volkswagen, moderador de la mesa redonda en la que intervino Stark-Watzinger.
"Durante décadas, la diplomacia científica siguió las directrices de la política de poder blando. Y hoy, el conocimiento científico es fundamental para la ejecución del poder duro", dijo.
"Puede que en el pasado tuviéramos demasiadas ilusiones en la colaboración internacional en investigación, porque pensábamos que mientras cooperáramos, mientras colaboráramos, contribuiríamos al entendimiento internacional", continuó.
Señaló un estudio realizado el año pasado según el cual, desde 2016, académicos alemanes han colaborado en más de 800 artículos con instituciones bajo el control del Ejército Popular de Liberación de China, además de cientos más con institutos chinos de investigación sobre armas nucleares.
El informe causó conmoción en el mundo de la investigación alemán, y algunos rectores exigieron respuestas a los académicos que habían colaborado con el ejército chino.
Stark-Watzinger ha seguido exhortando a los académicos e instituciones alemanes a ser más conscientes de las implicaciones geopolíticas y de seguridad de su trabajo conjunto.
"Tenemos que conocer el país, los valores del país", dijo. "¿Hay reciprocidad, transparencia, cuál es el trasfondo jurídico?".
Stark-Watzinger ya había hecho este llamamiento antes, argumentando en una columna periodística el verano pasado que las universidades alemanas necesitan proteger mejor su investigación frente a China.
En respuesta, los líderes de la investigación dijeron que necesitaban un apoyo concreto que les ayudara a tomar decisiones de colaboración más inteligentes, no sólo peticiones de artículos de opinión. La libertad académica alemana está protegida por la Constitución, por lo que sería difícil imponer restricciones estrictas a la colaboración.
Según Mikko Huotari, director del Instituto Mercator de Estudios sobre China, con sede en Berlín, Europa apenas está empezando a poner en común información y a hacerse una idea detallada del sistema de investigación chino para que los académicos puedan estar mejor informados sobre posibles colaboraciones.
"Creo que nos falta información que nos ayude a encontrar el equilibrio adecuado entre apertura y seguridad", dijo al grupo durante una sesión de preguntas y respuestas del público. "Tenemos que trabajar más rápido".
German science minister calls for a rethink of “strong wall” between civilian and military research20 Feb 2024 | News
At the Munich Security Conference, Bettina Stark-Watzinger made the case that research is now at the centre of geopolitical rivalry. But changing the German research system remains difficult
By David Matthews
Germany’s science minister has called for a rethink of the country’s traditional separation between civilian and military research during an unprecedented debate on research security at the Munich Security Conference.
More normally the haunt of generals than science ministers, Bettina Stark-Watzinger’s appearance at the conference is a mark of how dramatically security concerns, particularly around China, are now part of science and innovation policy.
“It is a strong signal, that research is a geopolitical factor,” said Stark-Watzinger during a panel debate on 16 February.
Back in 2016, the then EU research Commissioner Carlos Moedas was trumpeting the EU’s Horizon 2020 research programme as “open to the world.”
Fast forward to 2024, and following the pandemic, war in Ukraine, and European nervousness over China’s designs on Taiwan, the slogan has changed to, “As open as possible, as closed as necessary,” as Stark-Watzinger put it.
For her, the pandemic was the key turning point that demonstrated the risk of technological dependence, and the need to be less naïve about research cooperation.
In 2020, Europe was initially heavily dependent on China for supplies of personal protective equipment, and Brussels then had to fight for a supply of vaccines from multinational pharmaceutical companies.
“If you have technology, and others depend heavily on that, you have power. So the tech race is in full swing, and we have to be part of that,” she said.
This year’s conference was dominated by Ukraine’s weakening position in its war against Russia, and by fears of a new Donald Trump presidency in the US, which could even leave the EU exposed to attack by Moscow if Trump backs out of Nato mutual defence commitments.
For the first time, technological rivalry was singled out as a geopolitical flashpoint in the conference’s annual report on security challenges.
In this context, Stark-Watzinger wants a rethink of Germany’s “very strong wall” between civilian and military research.
“Nobody should be forced to do something,” she said, “but if I look at the US and Israel, [there is] a different story there… we also have to ask ourselves if we still have the right instruments in place.”
Uphill battle
But Stark-Watzinger may face an uphill battle in Germany to truly integrate civilian and military research. More than 70 publicly funded universities have so-called civil clauses which prevent them working on military-related research.
Despite similar calls from Stark-Watzinger last year, and the leader of the opposition conservatives Friedrich Merz, there’s no sign yet of an end to this system. Civil clauses are still strongly defended by some student groups, and an enforced end to them could breach university autonomy.
In Brussels, a similar debate is taking place, with the European Commission suggesting that the successor to the Horizon Europe research programme could permit dual use research.
Currently, it’s an entirely civilian programme, with military R&D funded through the separate European Defence Fund.
China wariness
The research security agenda, however, is less about Russia than China, which some argue has been helped to a position of technological and military leadership by sometimes naïve, lopsided collaborations by European academics.
“The world of international research collaboration has changed dramatically,” said Georg Schütte, secretary general of the Volkswagen Foundation, who was moderating the panel at which Stark-Watzinger spoke.
“For decades, science diplomacy followed the guidelines of soft power politics. And today, scientific knowledge is central to the execution of hard power,” he said.
“Maybe we had too much wishful thinking in international research collaboration in the past, because we thought that as long as we cooperate, as long as we collaborate, we will contribute to international understanding,” he continued.
He pointed to one study last year that found academics in Germany have since 2016 collaborated on more than 800 papers with institutions under the control of China’s People’s Liberation Army, plus hundreds more with China’s nuclear weapons research institutes.
The report sent shockwaves through the German research establishment, with some rectors demanding answers from academics who had collaborated with the Chinese military.
Stark-Watzinger has continued to exhort German academics and institutions to be more aware of the geopolitical and security implications of their joint work.
“We have to know the country, the values in the country,” she said. “Is there reciprocity, transparency, what is the legal background?”
Stark-Watzinger has made this call before, arguing in a newspaper column last summer German universities need to better protect their research from China.
In response, research leaders said they needed concrete support to help them make smarter collaboration decisions, not just op-ed demands. German academic freedom is constitutionally protected, so any hard restraints on collaboration would be difficult to enact.
Europe is only just beginning to pool information and build a detailed picture of the Chinese research system so academics can be better informed about potential collaborations, said Mikko Huotari, director of the Berlin-based Mercator Institute for China Studies.
“I would think that we are missing intelligence that would help us strike the right balance between openness and securitization,” he told the panel during an audience question and answer session. “We have to work faster”.
