Policy Advice
Policy advice is an important part of CNTR’s mission. CNTR researchers engage in dialogue with stakeholders, serve es experts in committees and workshops and publish policy-oriented reports. The core product is the annual CNTR Monitor.
For the list of our experts and their topics, see the team site.
CNTR Monitor
The CNTR Monitor is an annual open-access publication and the core product of CNTR's research. It highlights technological innovations and developments in the natural sciences that are relevant to peace and security. In addition to analyses of individual technologies and reports on research and development (R&D) activities, the Monitor also explores opportunities for arms control and outlines options for political regulation.
Dialogue with Stakeholders
CNTR researchers discuss their findings and recommendations with policymakers and practitioners. Key formats are the annual presentation of the CNTR Monitor in Berlin as well as dialogue formats in Frankfurt and Brussels.
- Presentation of the CNTR Monitor 2025 at the Federal Foreign Office, the Department for Arms Control, OSCE, Arms Exports, and Arms Export Control of the Federal Ministry of Defense, and to Member of Parliament Sara Nanni and staff members of the Bündnis90/Die Grünen parliamentary group, as well as with Ralf Stegner, SPD, Chair of the Subcommittee on Arms Control and Proliferation Control, Non-Proliferation, and International Disarmament, at the German Bundestag
- Presentation of the CNTR Monitor 2024 at the Federal Foreign Office, the Arms Control, OSCE, Arms Export and Arms Export Control Division of the Federal Ministry of Defense, and at the Department for Research Security and Investment Review of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research
Activities as Experts and Reviewers
In addition, our researchers are available as experts in parliamentary proceedings, advise delegations, and contribute to expert reports and position papers.
November 20, 2025. Malte Göttsche contributes to joint statement by German and Japanese physicists against nuclear threats. In a ceremony at Münster's historic town hall, the presidents of the German Physical Society (DPG) and the Physical Society of Japan (JPS) signed a joint declaration against nuclear armament and the use of nuclear weapons. Malte Göttsche, head of the Research Group Science for Nuclear Diplomacy, was part of the six-member German-Japanesedelegation that drafted the declaration.
Una Jakob is Co-Chair of the Expert Network on Chemical and Biological Weapons in the UNIDIR project “Science and Technology Watchtower: Monitoring Innovation for Disarmament”, since 2025.
October 2024, Malte Göttsche involved in the BMBF's stakeholder process: The topic of research security has taken on a new urgency in the wake of current debates about the “Zeitenwende” (turn of an era) in Germany and changing geopolitical conditions. Security policy interests require a responsible approach to research without jeopardizing the constitutional right to scientific freedom in Germany. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) has developed a position paper in order to develop a new strategic approach to dealing with this issue. The content and implementation perspectives of the paper are now being discussed in a participatory process with stakeholders from science, industry and politics. Malte Göttsche from CNTR is involved in the process. A kick-off conference was held at the BMBF in Berlin on October 11. The aim of the stakeholder process is to draw up a joint memorandum. Malte Göttsche is involved in the process of the working group “Sensitive/Critical Technologies and Civil and Military Research”.
Biosecurity Strategy Group of CEPI (Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations). Una Jakob is a member.
Young Women in Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Mentorship Programme 2023-24, sponsored by the EU Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Consortium. Una Jakob participates as mentor.
Meetings of the Biological Weapons Convention Working Group in Geneva in December 2023. Una Jakob participated as advisor to the German delegation.
Meetings of the Biological Weapons Convention Working Group in Geneva in August 2023. Una Jakob participated as advisor to the German delegation.
Policy advice for Interacademy Partnership (IAP) in 2023. Simulation of a scientific advisory body for the Biological Weapons Convention. Una Jakob participated as an expert.
Germany's arms control policy initiatives - a success story?, 01. Dec 2023: Study by Jana Baldus, Christopher Daase, Anna-Katharina Ferl, Una Jakob, Daniel Lambach, Tobias Lehmann, Clara Perras, Elisabeth Hoffberger-Pippan, Thomas Reinhold, Hans-Joachim Schmidt, Niklas Schörnig, Maximilian Tkocz and Simone Wisotzki (in German), Bibliographic record: Baldus, Jana; Daase, Christopher; Ferl, Anna-Katharina; Jakob, Una; Lambach, Daniel; Lehmann, Tobias; Perras, Clara; Hoffberger-Pippan, Elisabeth; Reinhold, Thomas; Schmidt, Hans-Joachim; Schörnig, Niklas; Tkocz, Maximilian; Wisotzki, Simone. Die rüstungskontrollpolitischen Initiativen Deutschlands – eine Erfolgsgeschichte? Hamburg: Greenpeace, December 2023.
Workshops, Conferences and Panel Discussions
CNTR’s annual Tech Trend Lab brings together experts from research and policy to discuss trends in technology and science with an impact on peace and security as well as avenues for political control.
CNTR has contributed repeatedly to the German Forum on Security Policy hosted by the Federal Academy for Security Policy.
On 4 February 2026, experts from academia, research institutions, diplomatic missions and international organizations gathered in Vienna to discuss challenges facing nuclear verification today and explore potential future prospects. Leading experts in nuclear verification contributed to the workshop, including Noah Mayhew (VCDNP), Nikolai Sokov (VCDNP), Leonardo Bandarra (University Duisburg-Essen/VeSPoTec), and Carmen Wunderlich (University Duisburg-Essen/VeSPoTec). VCDNP Executive Director Elena K. Sokova and CNTR speaker Malte Göttsche delivered opening remarks. More researchers from CNTR attended the workshop as well.
Third CNTR Tech Trend Lab: Workshop at PRIF with Participants from Research and Practice, 26. May 2025
Una Jakob participated in the workshop “Strategic foresight on dual-use research at the One Health intersection” of the WHO, 22 May 2025 (online).
Workshop UNSGM Dialogue, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, June 25-26, 2025. Una Jakob held a presentation on “Political Context: The 1925 Geneva Protocol and the 1927 Biological Weapons Convention”.
08 May 2025, From AI to 3D-Printing, Drones & Biotechnology, Panel during the German Forum on Security Policy
Workshop Verification of the Biological Weapons Convention, Federal Foreign Office, Berlin, May 07, 2025. Una Jakob held a presentation on “Confidence-building and verification for the Biological Weapons Convention”.
Panel discussion at the Federal Academic for Security Policy (Bundesakademie für Sicherheitspolitik, BAKS) on the topic “From AI to 3D-Printing, Drones & Biotechnology: Dual-Use Challenges and Technology Governance” on May 6, 2025. Event organized by CNTR with Liska Suckau, Kadri Reis, Thomas Reinhold and Niklas Schörnig.
SIPRI WMD Course for Natural Scientists, April 09, 2025 (online). Una Jakob held a lecture on “Chemical Weapons, their Arsenals, Proliferation and Disarmament”.
Webinar Organisational, Institutional and Financial Matters, BWC Working Group Friends of the Chair Webinar Series, UNIDIR, November 26, 2024. Una Jakob participated as panelist.
#DFS2024: Arms Control and New Technologies – Seeing and Seizing Opportunities. On 14 May, Dr. Thomas Reinhold and Liska Suckau discussed new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, autonomous weapons systems, additive manufacturing and quantum computers, which are set to change the way armed forces operate in the (near) future. They are often even described as disruptive – as they are said to have the ability to influence or even shift the global balance of military power. The panel discussion was a part of the Deutsches Forum Sicherheitspolitik (DFS), which is organized annually by the Federal Academy for Security Policy (Bundesakademie für Sicherheitspolitik, BAKS). Frank Kuhn moderated the event.
Webinar Compliance and verification, UNIDIR, BWC Working Group Friends of the Chair Webinar Series, May 13, 2024 (online). Una Jakob participated as panelist.
Second CNTR Tech Trend Lab: Workshop at PRIF with Participants from Research and Practice, 07. May 2024
First CNTR Tech Trend Lab: Workshop at PRIF with participants from research and practice, 02. Nov 2023
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