This brochure outlines the legal and ethical obligations of researchers to prevent the malevolent use of dual use research. The document includes definitions of misuse and dual use research as well as examples of common cases of the two. The discussion of researchers’ legal obligations and relevant regulations assumes that those researchers are working within the European Union. Therefore, this document will be most relevant to researchers in the EU. 

 This brochure is the result of a collaboration between five Flemish universities and the Working Group Dual Use of the Flemish Interuniversity Council. Two outside research organizations, Interuniversity Microelectronics Centre (imec) and the Flanders Institute of Biotechnology (VIB), participated in the brochure’s development as well. The Flemish Interuniversity council was founded in 1976 to promote cooperation and understanding between Belgium’s universities. The council operates as a think tank and provides guidance to institutions on a wide range of topics including research management and academic governance. The Flanders Institute of Biotechnology is a Flemish institution dedicated to strengthening life sciences research in Belgium and transforming that research into economic growth. Imec is an international research organization that merged with the Flemish digital research center iMinds in September 2016.