Tools for due diligence

The purpose of doing due diligence on funders and collaborative parties is to assess their trustworthiness. Assume that they are trustworthy and check for signs that they are not. Relevant aspects to check may differ depending on the kind of exchanges you will have. To assess, start with the counterpart's webpage and other information they provide about themselves. Check other open sources, but make sure to understand what kind of source it is and appraise the information accordingly. Support is available via exportcontrol@kth.se.

Typical aspects to check for:

  • Legal obstacles: Is there a sanction against the counterpart?
  • Military associations: May the research outcomes be covertly used for military purposes?
  • Local political and historical context: Are there repression, conflicts, terrorist activities or other events that may increase the risks for involved researchers, participants, or other affected individuals or for that outcomes are used for nefarious purposes?

Typical red flags:

  • Vagueness: Information about the counterpart is hard to get, shifting or vague; Emailaddresses do not match counterpart.
  • Unusual requests: Unexpected customization of key parameters of sensitive technology; Unexpected conditions in agreements or payment methods.
  • Lack of proportionality: Exaggerated requirements for secrecy; Guest researchers with unexpectedly low technical skills; Excessive generosity.

You may want to use the following Boolean searches:

[Counterpart] AND sanction OR alleg* OR accus* OR bankrupt OR brib* OR controversy OR corrupt* OR court OR crim* OR donation OR dissolved OR equality OR fraud OR “human rights” OR legal OR illegal OR investig* OR prosecut* OR protest OR ethic* OR unethic* OR scandal OR terrorism OR military

[Motpart] AND sanktion OR åtal* OR anklag* OR bankrutt OR mut* OR kontrovers* OR korrup* OR domstol OR brott OR donation OR upplöst OR jämställdhet OR jämlikhet OR bedrägeri OR “mänskliga rättigheter” OR legal OR illegal OR olaglig OR laglig OR utredning OR rättsprocess OR protest OR etisk OR oetisk OR skandal OR terror OR militär

Helpful webpages:

Landguiden (information on countries from the Swedish Institute of International Affairs, available via KTH Library)

Academic Freedom Index Links to an external site.

KnowYourCountry Links to an external site. (anti-money-laundry site with informative country reports)

Corruption Perceptions Index Links to an external site. (may affect the assessment of the risk for information and equipment ending up in the wrong hands)

Unitracker Links to an external site. (intelligence information on Chinese universities' tendency towards fusing military and civil research)

 

EU Sanctions Map Links to an external site. (all EU sanctions, searchable)

Swedish government's webpage on sanctions Links to an external site. (Swedish only)

Search-tool for US sanctions Links to an external site.

 

* New counterparts should be checked. Ask for support if necessary. *

 

Next page contains more detailed information on conflicts of interests that may arise within research and how to handle them.