Evaluation of collaborations with Israeli organizations completed

In response to many questions about Dutch universities' collaborations with Israeli organizations, a page compiling the research and exchange collaborations of Utrecht University (UU) and UMC Utrecht (UMCU) with Israeli organizations was published in May.

Upon publication of the page, an evaluation of existing collaborations was promised, because UU does not want scientific ties and/or student exchange collaborations to contribute to the (continuation of the) cycle of violence. This was partly a re-evaluation, because since 2022 all new collaborations are assessed for risks regarding knowledge security by default.

Rector Magnificus Henk Kummeling answers five frequently-asked questions about the collaborations of Utrecht University with Israeli organizations (English captions available).

Research collaborations

The evaluation was conducted by the faculties of UU and the Knowledge Security Advisory Team, at the request of the Rector Magnificus. This included consideration of possible inappropriate use of scientific knowledge for every project, for example military application (dual use), and risks that the research collaboration contributes to a deterioration of the human rights situation.

The main findings of the evaluation of research collaborations are:

  • The scientific knowledge from the ongoing research studies is not relevant to the Israeli defense industry;
  • The knowledge in the research studies is of very limited sensitivity and is unlikely to have or receive military or unethical applications;
  • The likelihood that the knowledge from the ongoing research studies or exchange collaborations will lead to a deterioration of the human rights situation is very low.

For a number of the research collaborations, UU requested external advice from the National Contact Point for Knowledge Security. The advice received confirms UU's assessments. Based on these results, the Executive Board currently sees no reason to freeze or stop ongoing research collaborations.

Student exchange collaborations

Regarding the exchange collaborations, there has been no outbound exchange since early October 2023 because the institutions are located in areas with a negative travel advice. The contract with two of the three institutions have expired (Hebrew University and Reichman University). These institutions were therefore removed from the UU website as available exchange destinations in October. The remaining institution (University of Haifa ) will not be open in the next round of exchanges (year '25/'26) due to the negative travel advice.

New collaborations

Although the Executive Board is currently cautious about establishing new collaborations with Israeli organizations, Utrecht University applies a country-neutral policy. This means, among other things, that no countries can be excluded in advance from collaboration - with the exception of countries or organizations subject to sanctions. Possible new collaborations with organizations outside the EU are analyzed by the faculties on the basis of the Assessment Framework for Knowledge Security. Among other things, this means that Utrecht University always tests for the possibility that the expected research results will have a military application (dual use) and whether the research might contribute to the deterioration of the human rights situation in the country of research or elsewhere.