In January 2024, the EU Commission issued a "White Paper"  calling for a special effort to promote research with both civil and military objectives (dual-use research). Similarly, the German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) released a "Position Paper" in March 2024 calling for the deepening of cooperation between civilian and military research institutions and for establishing "funding incentives for increased cooperation between civilian and military research." In its annual report for 2024, the German "Research and Innovation” Expert Commission proposed dissolving the previous separation between civil and military research.

This reorientation is in fundamental contradiction to the spirit of civilian research following the experiences of World War II: the Science Council of Japan vowed in 1950 “to never become engaged in scientific research for war purposes.” At the international research center CERN, where the Higgs Boson was found in 2012, the convention of 1954 demands explicitly that it “shall have no concern with work for military requirements”, and at the Helmholtz Research Center DESY in Germany the guiding principles stipulate that the research "pursues goals that are peaceful and serve civil society”. Moreover, many universities have adopted so-called Civil Clauses to focus voluntarily their research and teaching to purely civilian and peaceful purposes.

At DESY the directorate has recently initiated a discussion whether the restriction of research to civilian and peaceful purposes is still adequate, or whether military research should be allowed at the laboratory.

In addition to the deep ethical implications raised by opening up civilian research centers and universities for military purposes, this evolution would have implications on: 

• the diversion of financial and intellectual resources from the pursuit of fundamental and peace-oriented research;
• the peace-building mission of science and the science-diplomacy for peace;
• international scientific cooperation;
• the obligation to publish all scientific results;
• the training and educational culture at research centers and universities for young students and trainees;
• access permits and security measures in laboratories, in particular for international visitors, and exclusion of scientists from certain (“unfriendly”) countries;
• free and open science, since open access to specific scientific results will be restricted.

We demand the intensification of civilian and peace-building research instead of opening civilian facilities to military research. Only in this way can we cope with the big, pressing global problems such as climate change and social justice, contribute to diminishing the ever increasing danger of nuclear war, create a livelihood for everyone on earth, as well as to ensure the survival of  humanity as a whole.

We, the undersigned scientists and employees at research and educational institutions,

• reiterate firmly our refusal to participate in any form in projects with military objectives (according to the CERN Convention and the declaration of the Science Council of Japan)
• urge that the civil clauses become standard for research and be expanded so that they become a template for international cooperation,
• urge the expansion of  international scientific cooperation with civilian objectives, in accordance with the civil clauses, in order to be able to solve the important and pressing questions of humanity,
• advocate the rebuilding of educational institutions destroyed by wars and promoting scientific cooperation with all regions affected by war and military conflicts within the framework of UNESCO's educational work and scientific cooperation.

This petition was initiated by employees at DESY and is already signed as today by more than 10% of all DESY employees.