Eindhoven University of Technology would welcome stricter rules from The Hague to prevent sensitive knowledge ending up in the ‘wrong hands’.
That is what the TU/e says in a reaction to questions by Studio040. Because of the rising tensions in the world, there are concerns in national politics about the fact that political opponents of the West, such as Russia, Iran and China could get their hands on Western knowledge. For example, there is a fear that advanced Western chips could end up in weapons belonging to the Chinese army.
Eindhoven University of Technology has stated that it has no collaborative ties with Iran and Russia. It does have such ties with China.
Cooperation
“We have one strategic partner university in China, Zhejiang University. That cooperation is mainly focused on student exchange and research into health technology. In addition, there are some small partnerships with Chinese institutions”, according to a spokesperson for the university. The university also states that it is too early to speculate about the end of these partnerships.
However, the university does state that curtailing all science is neither realistic nor desirable. “The vast majority of the results of the science done at Dutch universities is shared through scientific journals and conferences. Science is open and globalised and this international cross-fertilisation ensures that science moves forward faster, which benefits global society,” the university said.
‘Could be stricter’
At the same time, there is an understanding that due to changing international relations, more caution needs to be exercised in some research fields. “It is important that in specific fields the knowledge does not end up in such a way that we are disadvantaged by it later on. There are already national provisions for monitoring this, but they could perhaps be stricter”, a spokesperson says. “Knowledge security is becoming increasingly important, and it is good that the national government is continuing to play its part in this and is coming up with clear frameworks”.
Constraints
The Brainport Region is experiencing many restrictions due to the rising tensions on the world stage. For example, ASML is not allowed to sell its most advanced chip machines to Chinese companies. Recently, Studio040 announced that the restrictions for the Veldhoven company go even further, and it is not even allowed to hire employees from Syria and Iran.
Source: Studio040
Translated by: Bob
