WATCH: UK government guidance on research security
17 Jun 2025
Colleagues are asked to watch a short video, giving a scenario you may face and how to mitigate against it – this time, an authoritarian government scenario.
The UK government has published research security guidance, outlining scenarios that may be faced by academic and PS colleagues and – importantly – providing mitigation measures that they can take.
The National Protective Security Authority (NPSA) has created four Trusted Research scenario videos, each around 5 minutes long and providing easy to follow advice. The measures you can take to mitigate each scenario are summarised at the end of each video.
Researchers and research-related colleagues are asked to watch the latest scenario-mitigation video, which is based on a true story:
- Authoritarian government scenario (running time 5m 46s)
It includes mitigations that can be taken before travelling:
- Contact your school or department for advice on how to complete a travel risk assessment.
- Contact the Regulatory Compliance team for advice on export controls.
- Contact IT Services for advice on cyber security – and ensure your log in details are not easily guessed or accessed.
- Familiarise yourself with reporting mechanisms in case help is needed overseas.
- Identify any foreign laws, regulations and political circumstances that may affect you.
You can get more government guidance and all the information you need to keep you and your work secure at:
We welcome feedback on our provision – please contact uninews@manchester.ac.uk if you have any comments or questions.
Further information
The Trusted Research campaign aims to help academics and PS staff keep themselves and their work safe as we face a complex international environment and therefore new and changing potential risks.
You can watch the previous scenario-mitigation videos at:
Our international engagement
Vice President for Social Responsibility and Chair of Research Compliance Committee and Research Relationships Oversight Group, Professor Nalin Thakkar explains: “Our international engagement has always been academically driven, allowing collaborations to flourish. This will always be the case, but we face changing geopolitical landscape. We all need to play our part in mitigating any potential threats to our own security as well as our University’s and our nation’s security.
"The University is here to support you as you work with partners and funders across the world to combat global challenges, to ensure that you and your work remain safe.”