Research Security in Austria and the EU

The Research Security (webinar) series was funded by the Arqus Seed Funding Call 2025 (see other upcoming webinars below)

March 12th 2026 at 14:00 CET-15:30 – please register via https://forms.gle/zdT1HmC9e5FZsKKB7

Participation is free

Organized by the University of Graz – open for all universities, organization and people.

Research security has quickly become a core topic for universities, research organisations, companies and funding stakeholders—shaping international collaboration, institutional risk management, and day-to-day research support.

In this webinar, a structured introduction to research security and practical insights from Austria and selected other EU Member States is provided. These examples will also be discussed vis-à-vis international approaches, such as in Canada or within G7. It builds on the expert’s work on the topic and on his practical cooperation experience with single universities.

Given strong interest from practitioners, the webinar will also address research collaboration in international settings as a crosscutting theme - connecting policy developments with institutional practice and common questions around partnerships, due diligence, and risk awareness.

The webinar is intended for Researchers, Students, Research managers, R&I leadership, compliance / legal, international offices, project coordinators, and all interested in research security.

Speakers

Philipp Brugner is a regulatory and public affairs expert at Gas Connect Austria (GCA) since November 2025 and an independent research security expert. GCA is the national operator of Austria's main gas grid infrastructure. In this role, he is responsible for liaison and cooperation activities with ministries, energy associations and other stakeholders on national and EU level. He is interested in the topics of hydrogen and CCUs as future key technologies for transforming the energy system and decarbonising industry.From December 2013 to October 2025, Philipp worked as a senior researcher and project manager in the Department of Research Policy and Development at ZSI – Centre for Social Innovation in Vienna. During his time at ZSI, he was part of the team that established a new research focus at the institute on the topic of research security, particularly in cooperation with China. He co-authored the status report on research security in Austria (FORWIT, 2026) for the Austrian Council for Research, Science, Innovation, and Technology Development and published in the International Handbook of Research Security (Routledge, 2026; together with Gábor Szüdi). He continues working as an independent research security expert and is available for lectures, webinars or workshops. See more at: www.philippbrugner.eu

Dr. Gábor Szüdi is a senior researcher and project manager at the Centre for Social Innovation (ZSI) in Vienna (Austria) since 2016 where he works in the department for research policy and development. Since his career start in 2006, Gábor was engaged in proposal writing, grant and project management for various international programmes (FP7, Horizon 2020, Horizon Europe, Danube Transnational Programme, EEA and Norway Grants) in various topics related to the EU research and innovation (R&I) policy landscape, as well as international R&I cooperation. His project focus was frequently based on societal engagement, co-creation, impact and acceptance of scientific research. As regards research security, he co-leads the relevant research domain within the Horizon Europe-funded ReConnect China project and is an active contributor to the Global Service Facility (GSF) of the European Commission. Gábor holds a PhD in Economic Policy from the University of Economics in Bratislava (2016).

If you have any questions please get in contact with harald.kleinberger-pierer@uni-graz.at

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Check also the other webinars in this series to Research Security:

AI and Cybersecurity – Opportunities and Risks - April 22th 2026 at 10:00 CET-11:30

Organized by the Leipzig University – Details AI and Cybersecurity Opportunities and Risks