Research Governance

Research governance: Who defines that?¶

• Lawmakers

  • National: German Bundestag and Bundesrat (e.g., BDSG, Urheberrechtsgesetz)

  • European: European Parliament and Council (e.g, GDPR, EU AI Act, CDSM directive)

• Regulator and government agencies (e.g., European Medicines Agency, European Chemicals Agency, and Data Protection Authorities)

• Courts interpret how the law applies

• International Treaties and Conventions (e.g., UNESCO conventions)

• Institutional Governance Structures (policies, support structures, and processes)

• Contracts (grant agreements, consortium agreements, NDAs, licenses, DSAs, etc.)

• Mechanisms to ensure compliance (procedures and checklists)

Main research governance documents for using AI in research projects¶

• Data protection and privacy: GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), BDSG (Bundesdatenschutzgesetz); see also Talus, Anu. Opinion 28/2024 on Certain Data Protection Aspects Related to the Processing of Personal Data in the Context of AI Models. The European Data Protection Board, 2024. https://www.edpb.europa.eu/system/files/2024-12/edpb_opinion_202428_ai-models_en.pdf]

• Copyright law: EU copyright law consists of 13 directives and 2 regulations including InfoSoc Directive, CDSM or just DSM (Copyright in the Single Market) directive, Software directive, Database directive, etc.; see also European Union Intellectual Property Office, The development of generative artificial intelligence from a copyright perspective, European Union Intellectual Property Office, 2025, undefined (2025)

• AI-specific: EU AI Act https://artificialintelligenceact.eu

• Dual use and security-relevant research: Regulation (EU) 2021/821 (EU Dual-Use Regulation), “Manual Export Control and Academia” by BAFA and “Recommendations for Handling Security-Relevant Research” by DFG and Leopoldina

• Contract law: software, data, and model licenses, consortium agreements, grant agreements, industry collaborations, cloud service terms, NDAs, data processing agreements (DPAs), etc.