Af Lea Laursen Pasgaard, AAU Communication. Translated by LeeAnn Iovanni, AAU Communication

With Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the European security situation has changed. There is war on European soil and the Western democratic order is under attack. Aalborg University is therefore obliged to step up when society demands the university's help.

At least that is the opinion of AAU's rector, Per Michael Johansen, who in conjunction with the Executive Management and the Technical University of Denmark came up with the idea to establish the National Defence Technology Centre (NFC). A new centre that aims to provide the Danish Armed Forces and the defence industry with a single point of access to collaboration with the research and development environments at the Danish universities and five GTS institutes.

Joint union representative: contrary to the purpose of the university

Various councils and committees at AAU have asked the rector about AAU's involvement in the NFC. One of the staff members expressing concern about AAU's participation in the NFC is Frederik Hertel. He is an associate professor at Aalborg University Business School, joint union representative for the Danish Association of Masters and PhDs (DM), main area union representative for DM and the Danish Association of Social Workers, and staff representative in the Main Joint Consultation Committee at AAU.

- It’s always great when there are new activities at the university – it’s a pride we all share. But when it comes to the defence area, my concern is that it goes against what I believe the purpose of universities has been since ancient times – namely to influence and contribute positively to society and humankind, Frederik Hertel says.

- Put simply, I believe that research on technologies that can contribute to death and destruction is the opposite of our values and ideals for universities, he adds.

Frederik Hertel believes that AAU's involvement in a collaboration on defence technology runs counter to the university's desire to contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals as well as to its desire to work in a more mission-oriented way.

Rector Per Michael Johansen disagrees. He strongly believes that the NFC is a contribution to the UN Sustainable Development Goals for peace in the world. And he points out that since the Middle Ages researchers and technology developers have worked on making sophisticated weapons and defence systems.

- I just remember Alan Turing who played a key role in breaking the German Enigma codes in WWII, which changed the fortunes of war. He was a mathematician and employed at a university. And if he hadn't done what he did, the world might have looked different today, Per Michael Johansen says.

Rector: Participation in the NFC is voluntary

The rector adds that any involvement of AAU researchers in the NFC is completely voluntary. For some, it will be natural to join the centre – for example, researchers who are already part of AAU Defence, while for others it will be less relevant.

- Those staff members who don’t have any research interest in defence technology or who have ethical issues must of course be true to themselves. No one is being forced into anything here, he states.

Danish weapons technology in the wrong hands

The rector and Frederik Hertel obviously agree that Russia's invasion of Ukraine is both terrible and wrong. But when the rector refers to the security situation in Europe as 'a burning platform' and a main argument for participating, Frederik Hertel disagrees:

- You can talk a lot about the paradigm of necessity, but that doesn't change the fact that there is no defence technology that cannot be used offensively. Nor can we guarantee against the spread of technology to dictatorships and countries that violate human rights, Frederik Hertel says, referring to two recent cases where Danish technology ended up in the wrong hands.

This happened, for example, when a Danish-British company exported mass surveillance technology to the dictatorships of Saudi Arabia, Oman and Qatar. Another example was when Danish military equipment was installed in an Israeli fighter jet that participated in the bombardment of Gaza in 2021 and 2022 where 75 children were killed.

The rector agrees with Frederik Hertel that the examples mentioned are unfortunate, but he does not see it as AAU's job to prevent such situations. It is the state’s job:

- Denmark is part of international agreements such that companies cannot just export weapons out of the country. We have a state system that ensures that a random arms manufacturer cannot sell anything to just anyone. It must be approved by the Danish Business Authority and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the rector says.

Technology is dual use

The rector points out that most of the defence technology research conducted at AAU is dual use. This means that the technology has both defence and civilian applications. He cites as an example a research group at AAU that has developed a technology that can train battlefield performance by putting troops, tanks and aircraft into an advanced scenario. The technology is also being used in the chicken industry where researchers are helping to optimise production.

- Defence and space technology have always been cutting edge and some of the most advanced technology there is, so dual use technology really offers a huge advantage on the civilian market, the rector says.

With the European Defence Fund, the EU has earmarked considerable sums of money for research related to the defence of the various European countries. The rector sees an opportunity for AAU to contribute here.

Frederik Hertel is sceptical about how much spillover effect there is in defence technology. And he reiterates that in any case, this doesn’t change the fact that it can be difficult to control where defence technologies end up.

A gift at what price?

Another aspect of the NFC that worries Frederik Hertel is the funding of the centre and the research that will take place under the auspices of the centre in the future. The NFC is funded by a grant of DKK 25 million from the research reserve. An amount that, according to Frederik Hertel, is not huge when you look at the number of partners in the project.

- As a rule of thumb, no gift is free. Every gift is given with an expectation of something else, so I would like to hear the rector's reflections on what it means to accept such a gift, Frederik Hertel says.

Rector Per Michael Johansen denies that it costs the university money to be part of the NFC or to provide premises for the NFC secretariat.

- the NFC is funded by DKK 25 million in the research reserve, and this is money that completely bypasses AAU's finances. The fact of the matter is that the NFC really has nothing to do with AAU. It is a defence technology centre that is housed at AAU, but that will coordinate all the universities' defence efforts with the armed forces, the defence industry and the political system, respectively, the rector says.