Many of the research topics are benign but there are several publications we would like to call attention to due to their capacity for dual-use. The first is in the realm of surveillance technology, as the Israeli security state regularly uses mass surveillance technologies to suppress the Palestinian population. DTU co-authored a research paper titled "Multi-Faceted Visual Process Mining and Analytics" with the University of Haifa [2]. The paper explores how to best mine from and correlate simultaneous data streams, research which has strong implications for surveillance networks. In a paper published with Technion, researchers studied how best to track users as they move across different types of transport modes, another example of research with surveillance implications [3]. There were also examples of work on data processing algorithms with the University of Haifa [4], machine learning algorithms with Technion and Tel Aviv University [5], and cybersecurity tools with Bar-Ilan University and Technion [6,7].  Papers on photonics research were published with Hebrew University and the United States Air Force [8], Bar-Ilan University [9], Hebrew University, and Tel Aviv University [10]. One paper was also published with Tel Aviv University on autonomous vehicles [11].

Perhaps the most problematic co-authored publication is on the seemingly benign topic of fuel cells. DTU published a paper with scientists from the Israeli company HydroLite [12], which we have covered in our article on company collaborations. HydroLite is entirely owned by Elbit Systems and staffed by its scientists [13]. Elbit Systems is Israel's largest weapons manufacturer and plays an enormous role in supplying the IDF in armaments used to commit war crimes across the region. Elbit's interest in fuel cells has nothing to do with promoting a green transition but rather to integrate these power systems into autonomous military vehicles (i.e. drones, submarines) and mobile power stations used by the army [14]. In this way, DTU is directly contributing to the Israeli military-industrial complex under the guise of sustainability. 

Finally, one publication was identified in collaboration with Ariel University [15].  Ariel University is the only one of Israel's accredited institutions of higher learning located entirely within an occupied settlement in the West Bank, in direct contravention of international law. In 2012, the rector of DTU broke off collaborations with Ariel as he did not want DTU to be seen as supporting illegal settlement activity [16]. However in 2025, a visiting researcher at DTU published an editorial highlighting different research efforts at Ariel, seemingly in an attempt to lend the credibility of his affiliated institutions to a pariah. 

Institutional Collaborations

In addition to individual collaborations between researchers, we were also able to identify 28 institutional collaborations between DTU and Israeli partners which were active as of 2025. We were not able to find any formal collaboration frameworks on DTU Orbit, though some may exist and are simply not documented. The projects we were able to identify were a part of the European Commission's Horizon Programme. Despite not being a European country, Israeli institutions received more than € 1.1 billion of EU Horizon funds across 921 projects and 231 beneficiaries of these funds have close ties to the Israeli military [17]. DTU's Israeli partners in Horizon projects include universities/research centers: the Weizmann Institute [18-21], Technion [22-24], Tel Aviv University [25-27], Bar-Ilan University [27-29], Hebrew University of Jerusalem [30,31], Ben-Gurion University [32], University of Haifa [33], and the Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research Institute [25,34]; governmental bodies: Israeli Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure [35], Israeli Ministry of Health [36], Hadassah Medical Center [37-39], and the Municipality of Eilat [40,41]; and companies: Osm-Dan Ltd [29], Agra Consulting and Planning Ltd [29], V-Corals [34], Econcrete Tech [42], HydroLite [43], Weebit Nano [44], and Yoran Imaging [45].

We were able to identify several projects with dual-use possibilities. The first is with the aforementioned company HydroLite on fuel cells [43] which are ultimately intended for military applications. We also wish to highlight research on artificial intelligence [22,23,44] as the Israeli state has employed these algorithms broadly for both surveillance and target selection in Palestine, Lebanon, and Iran. In particular, the project with Weebit Nano [44] has a high risk as the company explicitly aims to target its chips at the defense industry [46,47]. Also of concern are projects related to construction [24,42], especially one regarding the 3D printing of permanent structures [24]. Israel has long used the policy of quickly building illegal settlements as a way of creating "facts on the ground" in order to de-facto annex Palestinian territory [48,49]. It is not at all inconceivable that a fast, cheap, and automated construction technique in the hands of an unreliable partner could be applied for these purposes. Finally, there are two projects in the realm of photonics [27,30], a field which is critical for military communications, targeting, and surveillance technologies. 

DTU's company partners in these projects also deserve some scrutiny. Agra Consulting and Planning Ltd proudly states that it has planned factories for Israeli weapons companies Rafael Advance Defense Systems and Elbit Systems [50]. We have previously covered Yoran Imaging, a company whose founders were technical leads at Rafael and now integrate military hardware into production environments [51]. Osm-Dan Ltd appears to be a consulting firm whose only purpose is to help Israeli institutions apply for and receive European Union research grants [52]. 

Ultimately, it seems like there are no ethical considerations that DTU applies when deciding whether or not to enter into a project collaboration. Despite DTU's Strategy 2026-2031 document stating that the university will not "conduct research into topics that do not have.. societal value" or "develop technology without prior democratic dialogue ([the university does] not abstain from the social debate about technology)" [53] the fact is that neither of these conditions are currently being met. Partnering with institutions which are actively engaged in apartheid and genocide does not provide a positive social value and there has been exactly zero democratic dialogue at an institutional level regarding the university's ties to Israeli counterparts. DTU's refusal to even consider its collaboration partners is likely due to one overarching consideration: money.

The 28 EU Horizon projects that we have presented here have provided DTU with 115,500,000 DKK (€15.5 million) in total funds, and a net contribution of 98,000,000 DKK (€13 million) according to the EU's CORDIS database. Israeli counterparts have received 145,500,000 DKK (€20 million) of total funds as a part of these projects. Living up to its own stated values would deprive the university of a large source of its research funding, so it continues to collaborate with and legitimize an apartheid state engaged in ethnic cleansing and genocide.

Demands

DTU’s current partnerships include Israeli universities and companies that have supported the Israeli apartheid regime, the unlawful occupation and settler violence in the oPt. Guided by a commitment to human rights and international law, DTU should:

• Conduct an investigation and legal review of existing collaborations covering: research and other activities with ties to current violations of international law and war crimes as well as active participation in the occupation and annexation of Palestinian territories and DTU’s possible contributions to the violations

• Begin the termination/suspension of existing partnerships with such entities

• Develop robust procedures for vetting future partners (particularly those with military-civil fusion practices)

• Publish detailed annual reports on industry and institutional collaborations

• Establish a due diligence committee tasked with reviewing partnerships for ethical and legal risks (particularly for dual-use technologies)

• Commit to a policy of non-engagement with companies and institutions contributing to the occupation or apartheid

• Share information about problematic industry/academic partners across institutions, fostering collective accountability