UNIVERSITY AFFAIRS
A new era of research security

National security agencies are taking a renewed interest in universities and their research in the face of rising geopolitical concerns.

Canada is home to a great deal of world-class research, but the federal government and its security services are raising the alarm that the country's combination of advanced technology, human talent and democratic society has made it an attractive target for foreign spies and their agents.

"Espionage and foreign interference activities pose threats to the integrity of Canada's research enterprise, as well as our country's national security," a spokesperson for Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) said in a statement to University Affairs. New guidelines on how to protect research, and rules governing foreign collaborations, have proliferated over the past few years to deal with these threats. Many researchers, however, worry that the heightened focus on security and a lack of clarity around what is considered acceptable could have a chilling effect on international collaborations.

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