Why the Guidelines?

The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) funds visionaries, explorers and innovators who are searching for the scientific and technical breakthroughs that will benefit our country. NSERC’s President, Dr. Alejandro Adem, speaks to the National Security Guidelines for Research Partnerships.

Transcript - NSERC: Why the National Security Guidelines for Research Partnerships?

[Music starts]

[On-screen text: Safeguarding Your Research]

[Professor Alejandro Adem on screen]

[On-screen text: Prof. Alejandro Adem, President, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada]

Professor Alejandro Adem: Hello. My name is Alejandro Adem and I am the President of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, frequently referred to as NSERC. NSERC funds visionaries, explorers, and innovators who are searching for the scientific and technical breakthroughs that will benefit our country and Canadians.

[Video clips: Two people working in a server room; three people talking and sitting by a 3D printer while it operates; a person in a laboratory on a video call with another person in a medical setting; a person in full-body PPE, collecting a water sample at a beach; two groups of people having a discussion in a laboratory setting; and a person in an office on a video call with someone in another office]

Professor Alejandro Adem: As Canada’s largest supporter of science, discovery, and innovation, we work with universities, colleges, businesses, and not-for-profits to remove barriers, develop opportunities, and attract new expertise to make Canada’s research community thrive. We give Canadian scientists and engineers the means to go further, because we believe in research without borders and beyond frontiers. In doing so, we support the Government of Canada’s commitment to an open and collaborative academic research environment. Our research environment must foster the national and international collaborations, partnerships, and networks that help Canada fully contribute to, and benefit from, world-leading research. At the same time, we recognize that Canada’s world-class research can be a valuable target for theft, espionage, and unauthorized access. It‘s become clear over the last few years that these are very real risks that need to be addressed. Therefore, we are committed to the principle that research should be as open as possible, and as secure as necessary. As a funding agency, we at NSERC recognize that we need to support the research community by applying the best principles and practices required to address potential risks to the research that we fund. But safeguarding Canada’s research is not a task that can be accomplished by any one individual or organization. It’s a shared responsibility that requires the cooperation of everyone in our research community. This is why we encourage all researchers to exercise due diligence when managing their research and their partnerships, which includes both good data management and research security practices. In doing this, you will not only help to protect the significant public investments in your research, but also protect the integrity of your work. Without adequate protections, your research can be accessed without your authorization or knowledge, and your data could be lost, stolen, or even altered to produce misleading conclusions. This can pose a risk to your ethical and legal obligations, as well as your professional reputation. It’s important to secure your work from theft, plagiarism and interference, to make sure that you retain the ability to share your findings with the world, at your own pace, with the contributions of you and your team properly recognized. The Government of Canada and its granting agencies are committed to supporting researchers wherever possible, so they can continue to practice their research with integrity and transparency, with respect for all privacy, security, ethical, and intellectual property considerations. And, we will continue to offer guidance and to help the research community, as we all improve our understanding of research security. In the summer of 2021, the Government of Canada took a significant step towards promoting good due diligence practices by unveiling the new National Security Guidelines for Research Partnerships. These Guidelines were developed with input from a Government of Canada – Universities working group to ensure that federal funding for research partnerships is guided by the appropriate consideration and mitigation of risks to the national security of Canada and the safety of Canadians. They have been applied to NSERC’s Alliance grants program for research partnership applications with private sector partners. As we continue to apply and to learn from these research security measures, we hope that researchers will keep an open mind and continue to collaborate with us, because we recognize this is new for everyone. As a research funder, NSERC is very new to this space, and we also have a lot of learning to do. We are working closely across the federal granting agencies and with Government of Canada partners, to build capacity and to ensure that all parties involved—researchers, research institutions, granting agencies, and federal departments—have the knowledge and tools to apply these new requirements. Due to the ever-changing global landscape, the risks to Canada’s research enterprise can come from anywhere, and can impact any area of research. Therefore the research security measures implemented by the Government of Canada are flexible and country-agnostic.

[The words “discrimination or profiling” appear on screen, circled in red and crossed out]

Professor Alejandro Adem: Through all this, it’s important to remember that these measures should never be permitted to lead to discrimination against or profiling of a member of the research community. The research community must guard against any conscious and unconscious biases that could result in discriminatory behaviors or decisions. Freedom from discrimination is a fundamental and internationally recognized human right that is necessary for all aspects of the research enterprise. Achieving equity, diversity and inclusion is essential to creating the excellent, innovative and impactful research necessary to advance knowledge and understanding, and to respond to local, national and global challenges, and so we must make sure that anyone can openly and fairly contribute to and participate in the research process. NSERC and the Government of Canada will continue to support and to work alongside the research community, to safeguard Canada’s research alongside our continued commitments to open science, to international collaboration, and to equity, diversity, and inclusion. Together, we can cultivate a strong, globally competitive research and innovation system in Canada.

[Music ends]

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