University chiefs put on alert to threat from hostile states
UNIVERSITY vice-chancellors are to be summoned to meet the security services after ministers found British institutions are being “targeted” by hostile states.
Oliver Dowden, the Deputy Prime Minister, said the Government is concerned that the UK’S higher education sector is “vulnerable” to exploitation and risks becoming a “chink” in the nation’s armour.
The meeting with university bosses will seek to determine “the extent of the problem”, with ministers particularly worried about coercion of universities “dependent on foreign funding” and the security of “frontier research” in sensitive sectors.
In a speech at the Chatham House think tank yesterday, Mr Dowden said Britain’s academic base is “a jewel in our crown”, with the vast majority of international collaboration “to be welcomed and applauded”.
But he added that the UK’S open approach also has the potential “to become a chink in our armour”.
Asked how the Government intends to protect Britain’s higher education sector from hostile states, he said: “In essence, we have concluded that universities are both vulnerable and that they are being targeted. So, as a first step, I will be calling in vice-chancellors to receive a Cobra briefing with our security services to understand the extent of the problems.
“I think it is likely we are going to need to consult on proposals to address, first of all, the security of researchers given access to frontier research in sensitive sectors.”
He added: “Secondly, this issue of universities being dependent on foreign funding, which could lead to the transfer of IP [intellectual property] or exploitation or coercion, that in turn sits alongside work we will do to look at our existing controls.”
Mr Dowden said the Government also needs to look at “greater transparency about universities’ sources of funding”. He said the round-table talks with vice-chancellors would take place in the coming weeks.
Earlier, in his speech, he warned universities relying on foreign funds must not “find themselves vulnerable in the fallout from heightened geopolitical tensions”.
“We must ensure that universities’ reliance on foreign funding does not become a dependency which they can be influenced, exploited or even coerced through, or indeed find themselves vulnerable in the fallout from heightened geopolitical tensions.”