Kharon and Digital Science have entered into a strategic partnership to improve their perspective on global research security.

The collaboration brings together Kharon’s risk intelligence and Digital Science’s world-leading Dimensions Research Security platform to help universities, funders, and government agencies identify and mitigate foreign influence, export control and compliance risks, all while preserving the openness that drives global collaboration.

This joint solution enables institutions to:

• Reveal hidden risk pathways by mapping affiliations and connections that indicate potential exposure to high-risk or state-linked entities.
• Automate and streamline workflows using Dimensions’ dashboard architecture, embedding Kharon’s insights directly into existing research management frameworks.
• Scale research security operations through integrated, API-driven analysis that supports large-scale due diligence and continuous monitoring.
• Enhance audit readiness and compliance alignment by maintaining defensible records aligned with evolving research security mandates worldwide.

Safeguarding Research in a Complex Global Landscape

Institutions today face growing pressure to balance academic innovation with the need to protect sensitive research from undue influence and emerging geopolitical risks.

Across jurisdictions like the U.S., U.K., Canada, and Australia, new policies, including National Security Presidential Memorandum – 33 (NSPM-33), the Trusted Research Guidance, and Canada’s Policy on Sensitive Technology and Affiliations of Concern, are reshaping expectations for transparency, due diligence, and responsible collaboration.

Kharon’s capabilities are designed to meet rapidly evolving compliance and regulatory expectations, enabling research security officers (RSOs) and export control officers (ECOs) to quickly identify hidden affiliates of concern and ties to restricted parties in China and other jurisdictions of increased risk.

Kharon’s offering combines advanced data analytics and artificial intelligence with subject matter expert validation and full sourcing transparency, empowering RSOs and ECOs to make defensible recommendations based on Kharon’s insights drawn from publicly available and reliable sources.

By pairing Kharon’s intelligence with Dimensions’ database of linked research information, spanning 159 million publications, 7.9 million grants, 170 million patents, 42 million datasets, nearly one million clinical trials and over 70 percent of publications available in full text, users benefit from unmatched visibility into the relationships, outputs and affiliations that may pose risks within institutional research portfolios.

“Our partnership with Digital Science underscores our shared commitment to helping academic institutions navigate an increasingly complex landscape,” said Kharon’s Vice President of Partnerships, Paul Gerbino. “We understand that research thrives on collaboration built on trust, and we’re proud that together we’re equipping institutions with the information they need to uphold that trust with greater ease. This marks an important step in expanding our impact across the sector.”

“Now more than ever, we recognise that research integrity and security are critical issues for researchers, their institutions, governments, and industry alike,” Digital Science’s Executive Vice President of Academic, Jonathan Breeze, added. “At Digital Science, we’re pleased to play an important role in helping to safeguard research security, and in helping institutions with their government compliance.

“Thanks to our partnership with Kharon and our complementary strengths, we are excited to enhance our offerings even further.”

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