It seems the domestic and international geopolitical position in the UK changes on a weekly basis. Over time this has led to the government becoming increasingly concerned about research security and national security risks arising in HEIs.
The main purpose of the Research Compliance team is to make sure the impact of resulting legal and regulatory changes on the University and academics is minimised where possible. There are a number of different legal mechanisms and regulations that apply to research work and transnational education, and both the government and the people who regulate our adherence to these laws have methods in place to check we are compliant with these.
The impact of research security and national security laws is extending across more and more of the work that happens in HEIs, and the Research Compliance team was created to manage the University’s response in this space. A fundamental aspect of our work is to manage oversight from government bodies and regulators, and act as a buffer for our academic colleagues so that they can continue their research and educational partnerships securely and efficiently. Failure to comply with the applicable laws and regulations can result in fines against the University or academics, cancellation of research projects, and in the most extreme cases, a custodial sentence sanction for the academic.
We are a small team and a relatively new entity sitting within DREI (formerly RED), consisting of Chaitali Desai (Senior Research Compliance Manager), Megan Wood-Smith (Research Compliance Manager) and Olivia Bomani (Solicitor Apprentice). We are closely aligned with the Research Contracts team, working with Oliver Geidel, Head of Research Contracts and Compliance.
The areas of regulation that we deal with are:
Export Controls
These apply to the movement of technology, documents, software, material, or data taken out of the UK in either a digital or physical format. This can include carrying or shipping physical prototypes to a collaborator based overseas, as well as emailing technical documents, datasets or diagrams to them. Controls can also apply to information disseminated at conferences to staff, students, or audiences overseas, and accessing work on University servers from outside the country.
National Security and Investment Act
This allows the government to intervene when a collaborator or industry partner gains some control over “entities” or “assets” where they believe there is a risk this will undermine or harm UK national security or its competitive advantage. In a university setting this can apply to movement of IP and know-how (rights in datasets, patentable inventions, licenses for use of research outcomes), lab equipment, or investment and shares in a university spinout.
Subsidy Control in Research and Development
This is relevant to circumstances where financial assistance, which can be monetary or a benefit-in-kind, is given to another organisation at below market value, with the potential to affect local competition or international trade.
Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing
These are regulations around collecting or otherwise accessing non-human genetic resources, or associated traditional knowledge, sourced outside the UK. This can apply to a wide range of resource we access overseas, whether, plant, bacterial, mineral or animal.
Trusted Research and Innovation
These are the over-arching principles that require universities to ensure we are working with suitable partners, managing information and knowledge-sharing risks, and that we have the right contractual documents in place to protect an academic and their work.
The Research Compliance team is just over 18 months old. Chaitali joined the University in September 2021 with a background of 14 years in private practice, working in abuse litigation and large-scale public inquiries. She was joined by Megan in April, and Olivia in May 2023. The research security arena has exploded beyond recognition in this time, and it has been a rollercoaster ride that has involved:
- getting to grips with a brand-new area of legal regulation that has an impact on not just research, but also our transnational relationships;
- writing training and guidance in an emerging field of law and rolling this out across the academic faculties and professional services teams;
- raising the University’s profile in the Research Compliance space with external stakeholders – government, regulators, other HEIs and various committees and panels – so that a research-intensive university like ours gets some input into how the sector responds to these legal and regulatory obligations placed on us by government;
- co-leading the Assessment of Third-Party Suitability Project with Liam McKervey (Research Ethics and Integrity Manager), which is about developing and proposing a new aligned process around how we perform and arrive at due diligence decisions across the University.
If you’d like to know more about what the team does, or how we can help you and your academic colleagues navigate these regulatory and national security issues, please get in touch at research-compliance@bristol.ac.uk.