The new External collaboration guidelines (pdf) offer researchers a route to ensuring that their collaborations fit in with the values that the UvA wishes to promote as a university.

Employees can use the guidelines, their accompanying questionnaires and a risk assessment tool, to assess together with managers whether they can enter into a specific collaboration. If necessary, the Advisory Committee on External Collaborations can issue advice at the request of a dean or the Executive Board.

The dean or the Executive Board then decides whether the collaboration can continue, possibly with risk-reducing measures. Advice from the committee and the decision on the collaboration are always tailor-made and only apply to that collaboration, at that time, in that form.

This route applies to future collaborations, but from now on also to existing collaborations. Educational collaborations, patient care and valorisation projects can also be assessed in this way from now on. As previously communicated, the Executive Board has already asked the Advisory Committee to look into the student exchange with the Israeli Tel Aviv University.External link The committee is now examining that collaboration.

UvA community involvement

In order to draw up the new guidelines, the perspectives of as many students and staff as possible were gathered. In addition, various internal committees and the Senate provided advice, and the representative advisory bodies, which were granted extra-statutory advisory rights on this subject, also provided advice.

The guidelines and the assessment procedure were ultimately adopted by the Executive Board and the deans. The UvA will also organise a broad dialogue on the subject for students and staff. Dilemmas and experiences in working with partners in a changing geopolitical and social context will be discussed in this dialogue. 

‘A cherished - but not unlimted - freedom’  

Rector magnificus Peter-Paul Verbeek: ‘I attach great importance to this assessment being carried out in collaboration with our community. It is not appropriate for the decision with whom we will or will not collaborate to be made from above. These guidelines, established after many discussions within the university, cherishes the freedom to collaborate and aims to fulfil that freedom in a responsible manner.

‘We do not want to collaborate on projects that cause serious damage to the environment, and we do not want to collaborate if there is a chance that we could unintentionally contribute to gross violations of human rights. We initially want to carefully examine whether those possibilities exist, and only then can we feel at ease with all of the university’s collaborations.’

Watch the podcast with Rector magnificus Peter-Paul Verbeek and FMG dean Christa Boer on this subject.

Read more about the ethical review of collaborations.External link