About us
We give universities the tools and preparedness needed to withstand CBRNE threats.
Universities are among Europe’s most open, dynamic, and densely populated environments. Their openness—combined with research laboratories, complex infrastructures, and constant movement of people—creates vulnerabilities that traditional emergency plans were never designed to address.
UNICOPS was created to close this gap.
Funded by the EU Internal Security Fund, UNICOPS unites 21 partners from seven EU countries to develop the first operational CBRNE protection framework tailored specifically to higher education institutions. Our mission is to strengthen campus resilience by providing universities with the tools, protocols, and practical guidance needed to prevent, detect, respond to, and recover from CBRNE and hybrid threats.
Our work is grounded in evidence, fieldwork, and cross-sector expertise. Through study visits, research, interviews, surveys, and large-scale field exercises across Europe, we identify real operational gaps and translate them into actionable, campus-ready solutions.
UNICOPS equips universities with:
- practical risk-mitigation protocols
- security best practices adapted to academic environments
- cross-agency coordination pathways with law enforcement
- a dedicated emergency-response platform
- a mobile application for real-time support
- field-tested procedures validated under real conditions
“Our goal is to ensure Europe’s universities have the resilience, readiness, and operational capacity to withstand modern CBRNE challenges.”
Karolina Tomczyk
Lead Specialist at Biohazard Prevention Centre, Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection
A framework tested under real threats
We are applying a multi-stage methodology to identify operational gaps and design practical CBRNE mitigation protocols for universities across Europe.
Our methodology includes:
- Study visits to universities across Europe
- Desk research on existing safety systems
- Surveys with students, academic staff, and administrators
- Interviews with campus security, law enforcement, and crisis teams
- Full-scale field exercises replicating real emergencies
- Gap analysis and development of operational protocols
This approach ensures the framework is grounded in real campus environments and reflects the operational realities of European higher education.
The participation of universities across Europe has been essential from the very beginning of the project.
Their involvement ensures the co-creation approach at the core of UNICOPS, allowing us to design a framework that reflects real operational needs rather than theoretical assumptions.
Through study visits, research activities, interviews, surveys, and evaluation processes, UNICOPS works directly with higher education institutions. This ensures that every tool, protocol, and recommendation we develop is grounded in the day-to-day realities, challenges, and constraints of campus environments.
The Network
Sign up to stay updated with what we do.
Stay in the loop with news straight from our security experts and innovators.
By signing up you are consenting to receive email updates from UNICOPS. Your data is safe and you can unsubscribe at any time in the future. More information is in our Privacy Policy.