A new law must now be screened before they have access to sensitive technological information at Eindhoven University of Technology. According to the government, this is necessary to prevent Dutch knowledge from being abused in, for example, foreign weapon systems.
According to Minister Eppo Bruins of Education, countries such as Iran, China and Russia are actively working on espionage to find out sensitive information, including through countrymen who live in the Netherlands. The plan was therefore first to only screen researchers from outside Europe. But that is canceled because the College of Human Rights and the National lawyer warned of discrimination.
Thousands of people
That is why all master’s students, researchers and support staff are now being screened as sensitive information, even if they come from the Netherlands.
Bruins published a first draft of his bill on Monday. According to a spokesperson, he goes to work “with a surgical fine knife”. Nevertheless, it is expected that around 8000 scientists are expected to change jobs or get a new position every year.
A spokesperson for that university cannot yet say how many people are involved in the TU/e. “We will first study the proposal.” He points out that all universities have had a core team of knowledge safety since 2022, plus a broader advisory team that deals with information security, among other things.
Hundreds of applications rejected
At the moment, universities make the risk assessments of newcomers in sensitive places themselves. Research by the NOS showed in March that in recent years hundreds of applications and international collaborations have not taken place because they were seen as too risky.