National Security and Investment Act (2021)

The National Security and Investment Act (NSIA) enables the UK Government to review and, where necessary, intervene by imposing conditions, or even blocking or cancelling certain acquisitions involving Qualifying Entities and Qualifying Assets that may pose a risk to national security. 

For Universities this can include activities such as the creation of spin‑out companies, changes in control over entities, or the acquisition or licensing of sensitive intellectual property, technology, data, or know‑how. 

Certain transactions in defined high‑risk sectors are subject to mandatory notification, while others may be notified voluntarily or called in for review by the UK Government. We therefore consider NSIA requirements as part of our research, commercialisation, and partnership processes to ensure relevant activities are identified early and managed appropriately.

The activity must fall within or closely related to one or more of the of the 17 sensitive areas of the economy:

• Advanced Materials
• Advanced Robotics
• Artificial Intelligence
• Civil Nuclear
• Communications
• Computing Hardware
• Critical Suppliers to Government
• Cryptographic Authentication
• Data Infrastructure
• Defence
• Military and Dual-Use
• Quantum Technologies
• Satellite and Space Technologies
• Suppliers to the Emergency Services
• Synthetic Biology
• Transport

National Security and Investment Act: details of the 17 types of notifiable acquisitions (UK Government website)

Guidance

National Security and Investment Act: guidance for the higher education and research-intensive sectors

Support from Edinburgh Research Office

For advice on whether your activity is in scope of the NSIA please contact exportcontrol@ed.ac.uk

University staff can find out more about the NSIA on the Edinburgh Research Office HUBsite.

Responsible Research - NSIA - Edinburgh Research Office HUBsite