Type: Online Tool
Source: Netherlands Biosecurity Office
Link

This is an easy to use online tool to quickly identify potential dual-use aspects in research.

Type: Legislation
Source: Swiss Confederation
Link

The Ordinance on the Control of Dual Use Goods, Specific Military Goods and Strategic Goods (Goods Control Ordinance, GCO) governs the export, import, transit, and brokerage of dual-use goods in Switzerland. 

Type: Legislation
Source: Swiss Confederation
Link

The Annexes of the Goods Control Ordinance contain a list of materials that require an export licence from the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO). For biological materials and technologies, the following control numbers are of particular relevance: 1C351, 1C353, 1C354 and 2B352.

Type: Website
Source: University of Bern
Link

This website of the University of Bern contains scenarios, a Q&A and tips regarding export controls, including for dual-use goods. Some of the information applies to members of the University of Bern only. Similar information may be found at other universities and institutions. 

Type: Report
Source: World Health Organization (WHO)
Link

This document addresses mainly policy-makers and regulators in charge of the governance of biorisks. It focuses on the role that responsible research can play in preventing and mitigating risks.

Type: E-Course
Source: World Health Organization (WHO)
Link

This free course focuses on the identification and minimization of dual-use risks in life sciences and provides guidance on building a culture of responsibility. It is based on the WHO publication "Global guidance framework for the responsible use of the life sciences." The course takes approximately 3 hours to complete.

Type: Report
Source: Government of Canada
Link

While this guideline addresses specifically facilities in Canada working with risk group 2-4 pathogens, it also contains background information and assessment tools that can be of interest to users outside of Canada. The report can also be downloaded as a PDF.

Type: Report
Source: Jülich Research Center
Link

While this guideline addresses primarily ethics commitees in Germany, it provides also  information on security-relevant and dual use research that can be of interest to other users. In particular, it proposes a decisional flowchart to assess and address step-by-step dual use concerns in research projects.

Type: Report
Source: swissuniversities
Link

This report outlines a framework for reconciling security, academic freedom and international competitiveness at Swiss universities. While the concept of knowledge security addresses the deliberate misuse of knowledge and dual use technologies, it also extends to other threats such as economic espionage.

Type: Website
Source: German Joint Committee on the Handling of Security-Relevant Research
Link

This website provides information on security-relevant research, including in the life sciences. In particular, some interesting publications and position papers (e.g. on gain-of-function research, genome editing) can be found  under "Research topics - Life sciences".

Type: Report
Source: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Link

This report provides a framework for responsible research practices to the scientific community and was updated in September 2026. Module 4 on "Openness and Security" gives a good introduction into the challenge of balancing the two and on how to develop a culture of security.

Type: Report
Source: Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences
Link

This code of conduct by the Swiss Academies aims to strengthen scientific integrity and addresses a broad range of issues in research and education. As part of the research process (4.7) it requires researchers to considers harms and risks of their research work, in particular for dual use research of concern.