The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine will convene a series of two meetings of experts and one workshop to explore potential avenues, challenges, and opportunities to assess the effectiveness and progress of current U.S. Federal government research security efforts in higher education, as well as potential new efforts. The primary focus of the series is research security and protection efforts at the Department of Defense (DoD), although initiatives at the National Science Foundation (NSF) and other Federal agencies will also be considered, to the extent feasible. The series will bring together DoD and other Federal agency representatives, higher education administrators, national security experts, research administration experts, program and policy evaluation experts, and the broader academic community.

First, a 2-day public Meeting of Experts will be convened to scope out topics and issues for the workshop, including working definitions, types, and goals of research security, potential frameworks for understanding research security efforts in higher education, and lessons learned from other types of related assessments, such as in dual-use research of concern.

Then a 2-day public workshop, organized by a National Academies-appointed planning committee, will focus on potential measures of effectiveness and performance, and the data needed, to assess research security and protection efforts in higher education by a range of Federal agencies. A rapporteur-authored proceedings will be issued following the workshop.
Finally, using the workshop discussions as input, a follow-up public Meeting of Experts will convey the views of individuals on how DoD specifically might organize and conduct an evaluation of the effectiveness of its research security and protection initiatives, with reference to initiatives at other Federal agencies, as appropriate.