UvA staff must now assess collaborations themselves using ethical framework
Yesterday, the University of Amsterdam (UvA) published an ethical framework that UvA employees must use to assess all collaborations with third parties. The university developed this framework in response to last year’s pro-Palestinian demonstrations and it monitors ties with parties in war zones.
With a new ethical framework, ‘External collaborations guidelines’, the UvA requires UvA employees to assess new collaborations themselves. Unlike previous ethical frameworks, the new framework also monitors collaborations in conflict areas.
Before entering into any new collaboration with an external party, staff members must first consult the guidelines set out in the framework. Their dean must then do the same. If they consider the collaboration to be risky based on the guidelines, they must also consult the independent advisory committee on Collaboration with Third Parties. Following the advice of this committee, the dean or a member of the Executive Board (CvB) will ultimately decide whether the collaboration can proceed.
“Contributions to human rights violations”
This new ethical framework, which UvA staff must use to assess collaborations, has been in the works since the pro-Palestinian demonstrations in May 2024. At that time, demonstrators demanded more clarity about collaborations with Israel. That is why, after a year, this ethical framework has now been established, which for the first time also covers collaborations in war zones. UvA staff will use it to assess collaborations that may “unintentionally contribute to gross human rights violations”, according to the framework.
In March, the Executive Board consulted the Advisory Committee on Collaboration with Third Parties regarding collaborations with the Hebrew University, Hungarian institutions and the China Scholarship Council. This committee of experts had already assessed the collaborations against the same framework, ‘Guidelines for external collaborations’. However, at that time, the guidelines were not yet publicly available for staff to consult.
Tel Aviv University
Following the advice of the Advisory Committee on Collaboration with Third Parties, the UvA decided in March this year not to renew the exchange with the Hebrew University. In addition, since May 2025, the Advisory Committee on Collaboration with Third Parties has been reviewing the collaboration with Tel Aviv University.
In addition, since May 2025, the Advisory Committee on Collaboration with Third Parties has been considering collaboration with Tel Aviv University. In response to the Roeterseiland campus occupation in June 2025, Rector Peter-Paul Verbeek promised to accelerate this process. The UvA also decided at that time not to enter into any new collaborations with Israeli institutions within the Horizon Europe Project. Most of the current ties consist of ongoing projects via Horizon Europe. In May 2025, the Central Student Council (CSR) and the Central Enterprise Council (COR) also recommended suspending ties with Israeli institutions.
A draft guideline was already in place in December 2024. This came seven months after the large-scale occupations of the Roeterseiland campus and the Binnengasthuisterrein in May 2024. After assessment by the CSR and the COR, a complete “guideline”, as the UvA calls the framework itself, is now finally in place. According to the UvA, this guideline may still be adjusted in the future.
Fossil fuel sector
The ethical framework also applies to collaborations “with serious and irreversible damage to the environment”. In 2023, the UvA already committed to no longer entering into new collaborations with companies in the fossil fuel sector, unless they meet strict conditions.
Finally, the new ethical framework ‘External collaborations guidelines’, which employees must use to assess collaborations, states that existing collaborations may also be reviewed. In addition to Hebrew University, the UvA also terminated collaborations with several Hungarian institutions and the China Scholarship Council this year. The university did so after assessment by the Advisory Committee on Collaboration with Third Parties. The UvA has not yet decided whether to review certain ongoing collaborations on the basis of the new framework.
