The University of Southampton is a vibrant academic community where people from different cultures offer diverse perspectives and innovative solutions to global challenges. Academic freedom is paramount in fostering innovation and driving impactful research. Upholding academic freedom ensures that pioneering ideas can flourish, contributing significantly to our collective pursuit of knowledge.
Partnerships are fundamental to our purpose and mission, and our community is encouraged to pursue and support relationships with a wide range of external organisations (including businesses, universities, governments, third sector and international organisations), that enable colleagues to work on important and interesting problems with appropriate partners and funders. Different individuals will have different views on the appropriateness of areas of research and partnerships.
To the greatest extent possible, we are committed to maintaining a supportive environment where colleagues can pursue research, knowledge exchange and enterprise activities that have the potential to achieve excellence, advance knowledge and create positive impact for social, health, environmental and economic benefits.
Guiding principles for responsible collaboration
Guided by our values, we establish research and enterprise partnerships with due consideration of the potential risks and benefits inherent to collaboration, and to ensure that our partners align with the values and principles we hold as a community. Whereas research, knowledge exchange and enterprise activities, and partners may provoke controversy at times, we uphold the principles of academic freedom and freedom of speech, safeguarding the rights of our colleagues and students to engage in debate and protest within the law.
In an ever-evolving landscape marked by geopolitical shifts and regulations, we must remain vigilant in our pursuit of responsible collaboration. Our approach aims to be balanced, weighing the risks against the benefits, both at the institutional and individual levels, while meeting our broader commitments and legal obligations (such as export control, National Security and Investment Act, Animals in Scientific Procedures Act, Health and Safety at Work Act, etc).
The University requires researchers to take personal responsibility for being aware of the risks associated with their research and collaborations and to be proactive in addressing these. To navigate these complexities and mitigate potential risks, we have developed guiding partnership principles rooted in our collective values, to support our community in creating and sustaining values-based collaborations.
Our approach is underpinned by five principles:
Research excellence
Our world-class research has its foundations in curiosity-led research, disciplinary excellence, and interdisciplinary collaboration. Researchers strive for excellence when conducting research, aim to produce and disseminate work of the highest quality and ethical standards, and to promote and support responsible research practice throughout the whole research lifecycle.
Independence
We carry out research free from interference and in line with our charitable status. The independence and integrity of our research must be clear. Any conflicts of interest or partiality must be explicit, declared and managed.
Integrity
Our researchers demonstrate integrity by maintaining their knowledge and awareness, by complying with University policies, and with all relevant legal, regulatory and ethical requirements, both in the UK and in countries where the research is conducted, or data is collected.
Care, respect and equity
We prioritise the safety and security of our researchers and all other staff and students, our collaborators and research participants, to undertake their research in compliance with regulatory and legislative requirements. High ethical standards and equitable partnerships shall apply wherever in the world the research is undertaken.
Risk management
Risks relating to reputational, political, ethical, legal, national security and financial implications are identified and assessed so that damage arising from the research is avoided or minimised wherever possible and so that measures are taken to ensure the benefits of research outweigh any potential harm.
Risk assessment
As well as the huge benefits that are offered by our research and enterprise collaborations, it is important to recognise and seek to mitigate the associated risks. When researchers think (or others could reasonably think) that their research collaborations may carry reputational risks and/or may be harmful, it is their responsibility to explicitly declare and manage the identified (or potential) risks. These risks may arise from the nature of the collaborating partner, the nature of the project or may, for example, involve ethical or conflict of interest issues.
The University’s Code of Conduct for Research sets out the policies and procedures in place to help researchers assess and manage risks. In the context of responsible collaborations, researchers need to pay particular attention to the policies listed below that explain the steps to take when a risk is identified:
Conflicts of Interest Policy and Guidance - Home (sharepoint.com)
Research Compliance and Trusted Research (sharepoint.com)
University Ethics Policy
Research integrity and academic conduct
Guidance and advice should be sought from the Research Integrity and Compliance (RICO) team in Research and Innovation Services. In cases where further advice may be required, the matter will be referred to the University Ethics Committee, the Research Integrity and Governance Committee and/or the International Partners Security and Export Control Reference Group as appropriate who, in particularly sensitive or difficult cases, may escalate the matter to the University Executive Board.
As a UK University working in the context of UK government policy, the University will, in general, support staff and students undertaking research with organisations that are allowed to operate or trade in the UK under its laws and policies. Conversely, we will not work with organisations or individuals that are prohibited from operating in the UK, or that are subject to sanctions, or other prohibitions.
As with all our research activities it is vital that the research is conducted according to the principle of independence and that the results are analysed and published without the influence of partners or sponsors steering it to a particular conclusion. Where evidence emerges that a sponsor or partner is engaged in undue interference, we will pause or end our engagement. Failure to recognise and act upon such interference is likely to breach our research integrity, conflicts of interest or authorship policies and could result in a research misconduct, which would require consideration under the appropriate policy. If there is any concern in this area, it should be initially raised with the Research Integrity and Compliance Office (RICO).
When a risk has been identified, researchers need to inform the relevant colleagues in their School and/or Faculty (Head of School, Associate Dean Research or Dean of Faculty) before making any commitment to collaborations.
The Addendum to this Statement provides sector-specific considerations and will be reviewed annually by the Research and Enterprise Executive Group.
Revision: January 2025