Foreign Influence

Federal agencies have communicated significant concerns around protecting the American research enterprise from undue foreign influence. While foreign influence has not been completely defined by the federal government, its core concerns involve maintaining the United States’ economic competitiveness and national security.

The FBI and other federal government agencies have expressed concern that some foreign actors, particularly foreign state adversaries, are seeking to acquire U.S. academic research and information illicitly or illegitimately in order to advance their scientific, economic, and military development goals through the exploitation of the culture of collaboration and openness on university campuses.

More specifically, NIH has identified three areas of concern (PDF):  diversion of intellectual property; peer reviewers inappropriately sharing confidential information on grant applications; and failure of researchers at NIH-funded U.S. institutions to disclose substantial resources from other organizations, including foreign governments.

No. The Department of Defense, the National Science Foundation, and the Department of Energy have also issued statements regarding this issue. Given the current U.S. Government focus on this issue, we anticipate similar guidance, statements, or requirements will be forthcoming from other funding agencies.

In general, FGTRPs are described as efforts sponsored by a foreign state entity (e.g., national, regional, or local foreign government agency, as well as certain foreign corporations and foreign public universities) to acquire U.S. scientific research results or technology through a government-run or government-funded program that recruits scientists, engineers, academics, researchers, and entrepreneurs of any nationality working or educated in the US. These programs often focus on research relevant to military development or emerging technology sectors.

The federal government is concerned that foreign talent recruitment programs may be used by foreign governments to acquire, legally and illegally, U.S. government-funded scientific research in order to dominate high technology sectors currently led by U.S. entities. As described by the FBI, these programs target individuals who are working in technological fields of interest to the foreign government, offering competitive salaries, state-of-the-art research facilities and/or honorific titles in an effort to encourage the transfer of ideas and intellectual property.

At present, there is no generally applicable U.S. legal or regulatory prohibition on participation in a foreign recruitment program. However, the Department of Energy (DOE) recently issued an internal directive that prohibits DOE employees and contractor employees from participating in certain foreign talent recruitment programs to ensure protection of U.S. competitive and national security interests as well as DOE program objectives.  Similarly, NSF announced a policy prohibiting NSF personnel and Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA) detailees to NSF from participating in foreign government talent recruitment programs due to risk concerns.

Refer to the Do’s, Don’ts and Maybe’s of Foreign Entity Relationships. Make your sponsors aware of your collaborations and interactions with foreign entities that support or contribute to your research program; federal agencies are expecting a thorough account of touchpoints between your research program and any foreign entity.  For an explanation of the various requirements imposed by federal sponsor’s, please check the Foreign Influence webpage maintained by the Office of Research Integrity, Conduct & Compliance.

If you are NIH funded: In July 2019 the NIH published FAQs regarding “Other Support and Foreign Components,” which provide more detail on NIH’s expectations regarding what qualifies as “other support” and when a project includes a “foreign component.” These clarifications address how to account appropriately for visiting scholars, start-up and other internal funds, and foreign collaborations, even if no grant funds are expended on the collaboration. Additionally, Michael Lauer, NIH’s Deputy Director for Extramural Research, has blogged on the topic of “other support,” providing examples of what should be disclosed.

If you are NSF funded: In July 2019, the NSF sent out a reminder in the form of a “Dear Colleague Letter” on research protection. As noted in this letter, NSF is currently evaluating proposed clarifications to its proposal disclosure requirements, including completion of Current and Pending Support documents, which would be effective January 2020.

Thomas Jefferson University values open and collaborative research, including international collaborations. To ensure the success of international partnerships in full compliance with University and federal requirements, a high degree of transparency regarding relationships with outside entities is required. It is best practice to disclose any research activities that involve a foreign entity.

Thomas Jefferson University believes that global engagement, both by bringing international scholars to grounds and encouraging our scholars to collaborate internationally, enriches the student experience and brings diverse knowledge and experiences that enhance our scholarship. However, consistent with federal agency guidance you should provide information to your research sponsors about all foreign collaborations and ensure that all foreign Research Visitors  comply with TJU's Volunteer and External Employee Participation in Research Policy #110.16. That said, there remains considerable concern with foreign talent programs. If you are involved in or are invited to participate in such a program, you should obtain approval from your department chair and comply with Thomas Jefferson University's Conflict of Commitment Policy #.

While most collaborations are acceptable and encouraged, we recommend researchers err on the side of transparency. It is best practice to disclose any research activities that involve a foreign entity.

We do not have specific guidance from all sponsors on this topic, however, per NIH guidelines, this person’s work on the project should be documented as follows:

1. As “Other Support” because the externally funded individual is a “resource available in direct support of [your] research endeavors.” The NIH recently clarified that “all research resources including, but not limited to, foreign financial support, research or laboratory personnel, lab space, scientific materials, … must be reported.”
2. As a “Participant” in the progress report if the person worked on a project for more than a month in any given year (see 4 Section D – Participants). Additionally, the person’s “primary affiliation” is determined by where the work was done for the project: if the individual is affiliated with a foreign organization but worked on the award solely in the U.S., the “primary affiliation” is not foreign;; if work was performed while outside of the U.S., the primary affiliation should be noted as foreign.
3. As a “Foreign Component” if the individual performed part of the work while in your Thomas Jefferson University lab, but also made a significant contribution to the project a from his/her home institution, or any other foreign location (e.g. collecting data at a foreign site, running samples on instrumentation there, and/or will be a co-author on publications arising from the grant).

This varies by federal sponsor, but generally

• appointments to external entities (whether paid, unpaid, adjunct, voluntary, or honorific) should be disclosed in your biosketch;
• Resource provisions made available to a researcher in support of, or related to, all your research endeavors, regardless of whether they have monetary value, are disclosed, depending on sponsor, in ‘other support’ or ‘current and pending support’ or ‘Facilities, Equipment and Other Resources’ documents, either at time of proposal or in annual reports;
• Performance of any significant scientific element or segment of a project outside the United States, either by the recipient or by a researcher employed by a foreign organization, regardless of whether grant funds are expended, should be disclosed in the proposal or by an approval request to the federal funding agency prior to the initiation of the engagements;

If you have any questions on how to disclose a foreign collaboration please contact your RACE Grant Administrator.

In most cases, there is no reason to disclose participation of foreign students or postdocs on sponsored research, especially if all such work will be performed in the U.S. However, classified and export controlled projects will be subject to foreign national restrictions. It may be possible to employ certain foreign nationals on controlled projects after appropriate licenses and/or exemptions are secured. Please contact the Office of Export Control for more information on such cases. There are no foreign national restrictions on “Fundamental Research” projects. However, there may be cases where working with a student or postdoc might be considered a “foreign component,” if that student or postdoc is performing effort in a foreign country. NIH defines a foreign component as “any significant scientific element or segment of a project outside of the United States, either by the recipient or by a researcher employed by a foreign organization, whether or not grant funds are expended."

No, however, if you travel internationally with your work laptop or other device, you should be mindful of any sensitive data that the device may contain and take steps to ensure the security of those data.  

In general, one-time travel to present at a conference would not require disclosure to sponsors.  If, however, that travel establishes a relationship with a foreign university, government, or other entity (e.g., results in an honorary or visiting appointment or an offer to set up laboratory space at that institution), then that may need to be disclosed, depending on the sponsor and their specific guidelines.  You should also obtain guidance from your department chair.

It depends on the level of activity of the foreign author:

• If the author performed a limited part of the work e.g. ran some statistics, and the paper does not acknowledge any foreign funding, you should be prepared to answer a question regarding the author’s role but don’t need to do anything else.
• If the foreign author acknowledges funding for his or her work limited work, that funding should be included as Current and Pending Support or Other Support for the PI in proposals and progress reports
• If the work done by the foreign author is significant then it constitutes a Foreign Component, which requires prior approval by NIH. If the foreign collaboration was described in the funded proposal, it is already approved. If it was not in the proposal, prior approval must be requested from the grants management official before initiating the collaboration.

Yes. Outside activities require pre-approval by your department, and disclosure to sponsors. This includes work during off-duty periods. Disclosure is necessary because it may affect how a sponsor views your other commitments relative to performing work for them. When in doubt, disclose the engagement to your department chair.

Yes. Visiting scholars or scientists who are paid by their home institution are supporting your research endeavors and therefore should be disclosed to NIH as Other Support.

In general, no. If the visiting scholars or scientists are already known to NIH because they are listed as Key Personnel, then they would not need to be disclosed as Other Support. The visiting scholar or scientist would need to list in their biosketch any affiliations they may hold outside of Thomas Jefferson University.

You do not need to disclose unless they are conducting research in a foreign country, which would require sponsor approval as a Foreign Component. If they are being paid by someone other than Thomas Jefferson University, or are volunteers, that would be reportable as Other Support and should be reported as normally required by the sponsor. For example, for NIH that would be in the next RPPR or final technical report if funding is ending.

On August 23, 2018, NIH issued a statement on protecting the integrity of U.S. biomedical research and expressed concerns about the failure of NIH-funded researchers to fully disclose substantial contributions of resources from foreign entities. In July 2019, NIH published a Notice and FAQs  with additional information in three areas: Other Support, Foreign Components, and Financial Conflicts of Interest.

NSF guidance in the 2020 version of the Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) guide is clarified to make clear that all appointments and resources available to a researcher in support of their research efforts must be disclosed.

These may be disclosed on the proposal cover page, in the “International Activities Country Names” box, and an explanation/justification must be provided in the project description. Substantial collaborations not included in the budget should be described in the Facilities, Equipment and Other Resources section of the proposal.

Appointments at a foreign entity should be disclosed in the biosketch and include any titled academic, professional, or institutional position whether or not remuneration is received, and whether full-time, part-time, or voluntary (including adjunct, visiting, or honorary).

Current and pending support information must be provided through use of an NSF-approved format for each individual designated as senior personnel on the proposal. Current and pending support includes all resources made available to an individual in support of, and/or related to, all of his/her research efforts, regardless of whether or not they have monetary value.

Current and pending support also includes in-kind contributions (such as office/laboratory space, equipment, supplies, employees, students). In-kind contributions not intended for use on the project/proposal being proposed also must be reported.