International scientific cooperation challenges and predicaments: options for risk assessment

Introduction The topic of this document, challenges and predicaments of international scientific cooperation, is a sensitive one. Whereas such cooperation has far more obvious advantages than potential disadvantages, too much emphasis on the drawbacks may obscure our view of the advantages. It is, nevertheless, a topic that merits greater attention. For although there is little likelihood that international scientific cooperation will have adverse effects, the potential consequences – if negative – may significantly reduce scientific quality or societal security. This booklet therefore considers this topic with prudence. Its aim is to encourage individuals and organisations to seriously reflect on their responsibilities and to help them arrive at informed opinions and decisions. Scientists and scholars must be able to work in freedom so that science retains its critical and analytical value. These days, numerous publications are available on the significance of scientific responsibility, integrity, independence and objectivity as well as responsible research conduct. Policy measures to safeguard and promote these aspects and to encourage the academic community to observe them – both in education and in research – now meet with an ever-stronger and broader consensus. Having said that, repressive institutional or national regimes may still place restrictions on scientific freedom, violate human rights, or fail to observe international agreements on academic freedom. Again, one must be careful with generalisations of this kind. Specific situations vary greatly, and it can do more harm than good to explicitly and openly identify certain organisations or countries that repress academic independence. A regime may be in transition, for example, and whether it is in fact repressive depends on the perspective of the observer as well as on the time of observation. We must therefore remain cautious in framing the issue. We have nevertheless produced an analytical framework that may help to map the risk level and to provide reference points for risk assessment. We illustrate this with cases from the recent past. However, there is no one-size-fits-all risk assessment 6 international scientific cooperation – challenges and predicaments procedure. Each case requires a custom-made approach. If this booklet helps with this, it will have achieved its objective. The text was drawn up by the Academy’s Standing Committee for the Freedom of Scientific Pursuit and reviewed independently (see Appendix

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Referentie: 
2014
32 p | Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences / Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen
http://www.knaw.nl/en/news/publications/international-scientific-cooperation-challenges-and-predicaments