Introduction from the 5RD CVEN co-chairs

Naturally, this comes with an emphasis on the importance of data and research, but more established fields of violence prevention are also fundamentally dependent on mature communities of science. That is, the development, analysis and communication of a stronger evidence base also require a critical mass of different perspectives, methods, and approaches in order to build robust knowledge. More thorough assessments of trends, needs, challenges, and opportunities, lead to innovation and creativity in producing knowledge and impacts that improve policy and practice. It is also central for effective challenge, critique, peer review, and cumulative learning.

Five Research and Development (5RD)
The 5RD framework provides a forum to enable broad-ranging cooperative R&D among the public safety and security entities of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

A network of networks

In this light, the value of international cooperation and collaboration to strengthen a community of science is self-evident. This is true not only for a newer field, but especially one like this where the phenomena can be less common, highly complex, and difficult to study. Nonetheless, it seems that realising the benefits of these types collaborations often remains out of reach, especially for graduate students and researchers in early stages of their careers. Expanding approaches to research that take advantage of a broad diversity of perspectives, techniques, data, and existing infrastructure is assuredly a case of a rising tide that will lift all boats. This is especially true when research topics have international implications such as terrorism and violent extremism, with shared questions across democratic countries about effective and appropriate policies, programs and practice for preventing extreme forms of violence linked to personal and group-based grievances. It was with this awareness of all of the work and investments happening among democratic nations and the nature of this shared desire to prevent serious violence that we first conceived of a “network of networks” to take full advantage of the knowledge being produced across these allied nations.

It is with these considerations in mind that the first meeting of the International Academic Partnerships for Science and Security (IAPSS) consortium was held on March 5th and 6th in London, United Kingdom. The event drew more than 60 attendees from 17 research centres across 12 countries. The question of how governments and research institutions can bring terrorism and targeted violence prevention researchers together, and how we can collectively build the next cadre of experts working to secure a safer world, was at the forefront of our agenda. The meeting identified several initiatives that IAPSS can implement to help these diverse research communities connect and sustain partnerships among interdisciplinary terrorism and security researchers. Plans to issue an IAPSS digital magazine were amongst the first to be raised in order to clearly communicate valuable insights from the breadth of this work to the scientific, policy, and practitioner communities. It’s been six months, and we are excited and privileged to introduce the first edition of this publication.

What is IAPSS?

IAPSS is a new cooperative organisation led by the National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education Center (NCITE) at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, and the Centre for Research and Evidence on Security Threats (CREST) at Lancaster University in the United Kingdom. NCITE and CREST are working in close collaboration with the Five Country Research and Development (5RD) Countering Violent Extremism Network (CVEN) as a part of the 5RD CVEN’s broader efforts to support internationally relevant research that can be applied to prevent or counter the effects of terrorism and mass violence. This collaboration includes active work with academic networks and centres outside the US and UK to involve core partners in the near future that build on the foundations being created by CREST and NCITE. An example is how IAPSS played a feature role as one of the partners for the 2024 Megaweek International Conference on Countering Radicalisation to Violence hosted by Public Safety’s Canada Centre for Community Engagement and Prevention of Violence in Montreal, Quebec, May 27-31, 2024. The week featured dedicated sessions to shape a next generation national university research network in Canada, and the involvement of IAPSS ensured that this new network will be connected to CREST, NCITE, and other such leading research centres around the world.

IAPSS will also pursue concrete activities that will build knowledge and evidence, and drive innovation through the development of the next generation of scientists...

IAPSS is establishing multinational, multidisciplinary cooperation by providing the structure, opportunities, and incentives for collaboration across a true network of networks that include the diversity of purpose and thought from academic and government researchers, practitioners, and policymakers. The success of this approach is already apparent in the variety and quality of the articles in the inaugural issue of this magazine. The digital security magazine is a key part of the knowledge sharing activities of IAPSS. It also complements bi-monthly seminars and annual international hub meetings to spur collaborative innovation among early career researchers, awareness among research centres, and discussion among subject matter experts from 12 countries so far. When we combine these efforts with IAPSS-sponsored PhD scholarships, research collaborations, and international grant development programs, we expect that their research in this area will be ultimately be faster, better, and more relevant to practice and policy.

Knowledge sharing

Formal structures for sharing information about counterterrorism, violence prevention, and domestic security policy and practice typically yield growth and improvements to the corpus of knowledge. However, IAPSS will also pursue concrete activities that will build knowledge and evidence, and drive innovation through the development of the next generation of scientists on these topics. The IAPSS Early Career Researcher (ECR) Grant Program demonstrates the commitment of IAPSS and the 5RD CVEN to encourage researchers to engage in multinational scientific inquiry and diplomacy. IAPSS will foster international collaboration, information sharing, and professional development, and the ECR Grant Program offers the opportunity for entry-level researchers to collaborate with international colleagues, attend conferences, and present their research to international audiences.

IAPSS has also, in its first year, established a working relationship with the Campbell Collaboration. This means that a network of the world’s best researchers on terrorism and security will be able to work together with the premier source of trusted systematic reviews and evidence synthesis. The Campbell Library is a well-known, highly trusted, and credible source of evidence for both scientists and practitioners across fields as diverse as education, international development, and criminal justice. IAPSS members will thus have the ability to assess, analyse, and comprehensively describe the worldwide state of scientific evidence on specific topics and to distribute that information with known and trusted quality assurance. In the second year, we expect the Campbell Collaboration and the IAPSS team to create a pilot program for implementing ECR development among the researchers whose countries are associated with IAPSS. The goal of this development will be to enhance the abilities of these researchers as scientific reviewers, improve their skills, create fertile ground for innovation, and inculcate multinational cooperation.

In recent years, in Canada, the United States, and across a range of partner countries, we have seen significant progress in the quality and depth of research being produced by scholars and students. By serving as a mechanism to better connect these various initiatives and and integrate the vast amounts of knowledge being produced, IAPPS is already showing promise. Our goal is to build a stronger international community of science that will address targeted violence and terrorism while respecting the values of democracy and fundamental human rights.