International collaboration is integral to scientific excellence in research and innovation. Increasing attention to national and economic security has led to the emergence of new approaches in strengthening research security and mitigating the unavoidable risks of international collaboration. For national research funding and research performing organisations, balancing openness, security, and academic freedom is an ongoing objective. Science Europe’s Task Force on Research Security explored these issues in a series of workshops between January and June 2025. The report of the series outlines six key policy messages from the workshops.