Guidance for Disclosing Foreign Interests

Introduction

The U.S. Government has expressed serious growing concerns regarding inappropriate influence by foreign entities over federally funded research (see Sources below).  One issue that has moved to the forefront is the failure of federally-funded researchers at U.S. institutions to disclose their relationships and activities with foreign institutions and funding agencies. Several Federal agencies have indicated that failure to disclose foreign relationships and activities may jeopardize eligibility for future funding.

University of Illinois at Chicago encourages international collaborations, but it is important for our investigators to be transparent about their foreign relationships and activities.  UIC’s Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research (OVCR) has compiled the following information to provide guidance and resources to remind UIC researchers of their compliance obligations to federal sponsors.

  1. Executive Office of the President of the United States, Office of Science and Technology Policy letter to the United States Research Community, September 16, 2019
  2. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) issued a Notice on March 30, 2018, reminding research institutions that PIs, sub-awardees and co-PIs must disclose all financial interests received from higher education or governmental institutions in countries outside the United States (NOT-OD-18-160). NIH Director Dr. Francis S. Collins also sent a memo to institutions on Aug. 20, 2018, stating that the failure to properly disclose foreign relationships threatened to distort decision-making about the use of NIH funds.NIH Guidance Notice (NOT-OD-19-114), July 10, 2019NIH Extramural Newsletter Open Mike – Post from Deputy Director Michael Lauer
  3. The National Defense Authorization Act, signed in August 2018, included Sec. 1286, which stated that “The Secretary of Defense shall, in consultation with other appropriate government organizations, establish an initiative to work with academic institutions who perform defense research and engineering activities . . . to limit undue influence, including through foreign talent programs, by countries to exploit United State Technology … ”On March 20, 2019 the Department of Defense issued a memo explicitly outlining disclosure requirements for all key personnel listed on research and research-related educational activities supported by DoD grants and contracts.
  4. The National Science Foundation issued a statement on “Security and Science” dated October 23, 2018, stating that US universities must “embrace transparency and rigorously adhere to conflict of interest and conflict of commitment policies.”
  5. The Department of Energy issued a notification on February 1, 2019, stating that DOE plans to implement a policy, which will mandate that “federal and contractor personnel fully disclose and, as necessary, terminate affiliations with foreign government-supported talent recruitment programs.”DOE Order was issued June 7, 2019
  6. As a reminder, NASA has long-standing restrictions on using NASA funds to enter into agreements “to participate, collaborate, or coordinate bilaterally in any way with China or any Chinese-owned company, at the prime recipient level or at any subrecipient level, whether the bilateral involvement is funded or performed under a no-exchange of funds arrangement” (grant restrictions, contract restrictions).

While most international collaborations are perfectly acceptable and encouraged, we urge researchers to err on the side of transparency. OVCR aims to work closely with the colleges and departments to ensure they can provide the best advising for each scenario. If you are receiving any payments, funds, or other resources from an international source that is not processed through the UIC or the UI Board of Trustees, the payments, funds, or other resources should be disclosed to the University, and appropriate federal agencies, through the appropriate means.

The items below contain guidance regarding the types of relationships and activities that UIC researchers are expected to disclose:

1. Foreign components of federally funded research must be disclosed on proposals, progress reports, and final technical reports. Under the NIH Grants Policy Statement, a Foreign Component is defined 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” [emphasis added]. The definition of “foreign component” (which can be found here) may include a large number of collaborative activities, including “collaborations with investigators at a foreign site anticipated to result in co-authorship; use of facilities or instrumentation at a foreign site; or receipt of financial support or resources from a foreign entity.” Other sponsors have similar requirements to disclose foreign components.

There are multiple ways in which foreign components can be disclosed, e.g.,

  • Identifying a “foreign component” in an NIH grant application;
  • Listing a “non-U.S. performance site”;
  • Identifying foreign relationships and activities in a biosketch;
  • Checking “yes” to the question on the Cover Page Supplement Form asking, “Does this project involve activities outside of the United States or partnerships with international collaborators?”
  • Financial resources must be disclosed even if they relate to work that is performed outside of a researcher’s appointment period. For example, if a researcher with a 9-month appointment spends two months at a university outside of the U.S. during the summer conducting research under a foreign award, that activity must be disclosed.

Principal Investigators (PIs) should review all pending proposals and active awards to ensure that all foreign components have been disclosed. If a PI identifies an omission or error in a previously submitted proposal, the PI should contact the Office of Research Services [awards@uic.edu] to have the error corrected.

2.  UIC researchers must ensure they disclose all applicable “Other Support” as required by federal sponsors.  “Other Support” includes all financial resources, domestic or foreign, available in direct support of a researcher’s research endeavors. Such support must be disclosed on an “Other Support” or “Current & Pending” form. (NIH guidance on how to complete “Other Support” can be found here.)

An issue that is garnering a great deal of scrutiny by the federal government is participation in foreign talent programs, such as China’s Thousand Talents Program. Not only must participation in a foreign talent program be disclosed to federal sponsors, UIC researchers must also report it on the Report of Non-University Activities and discuss such activity with their College’s Associate Dean for Research. Depending on an individual’s research portfolio, he or she may be advised to terminate his or her affiliation with the foreign talent program.

Most federal sponsors will have their own guidance on how to complete “Other Support” forms. It is ultimately the responsibility of the individual researcher to ensure that the report of Other Support is complete and accurate to the best of his or her knowledge.

Again, PIs should review all pending proposals and active awards to ensure that all Other Support has been disclosed. If a PI identifies an omission or error in a previously submitted proposal, he or she should contact the Office of Research Services [awards@uic.edu] to have the error corrected.

3.  Significant financial interests received from any foreign entity, including governments and universities, must be disclosed, per University policy for review by UIC’s Conflict of Interest Program. The definition of “significant financial interest” requires disclosure of remuneration from foreign entities greater than $5K including “Sponsored Travel” greater than $5K received in a 12-month period. If you are unsure whether a particular interest or remuneration meets this definition, please contact the Conflict of Interest Program at COI@uic.edu.

4. Disclose all foreign consulting and other outside business activities as required in policy AC80. A few common examples of outside business activities include consulting, teaching courses at outside organizations, or entrepreneurial ventures related to your area of research.

5. Foreign travel supported by UIC funds must be pre-approved and included in the International Travel Roster, as required by Policy. International travel sponsored by other sources, not through UIC, should be pre-approved and disclosed using UIC Research-COI. Additional guidance regarding foreign travel is provided by the OBFS and the Office of Global Engagement.

6. Contact the Office of Information Security regarding any compromised accounts or other IT threats at https://security.uic.edu/policies/

7. Promptly report inventions or intellectual property to the Office of Technology Management: https://otm.uic.edu/

It protects everyone’s interests – the Federal government, UIC, individual researchers, and their international collaborators – to have international relationships disclosed and vetted to determine if there are any potential conflict of commitments, duplications of research, and/or diversion of intellectual property in the performance of federally funded research.

In extreme cases, failure to disclose all relationships could result in the termination of funding for a project and potential ineligibility for future funding. Noncompliance can also threaten not only the funding for individual projects, but overall funding for the University and from federal appropriations as a whole.

Faculty members are encouraged to contact the Office of Research Integrity (ori@uic.edu) with specific questions related to foreign government interference in research and scholarship or any area of research integrity.

Do these issues only apply to NIH grants?

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.

Please see the Background section above for additional details.

Do I need to make disclosures related to the work of my graduate students if they are foreign nationals? Does this affect Postdoctoral scholars?

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 UIC’s Export Compliance Office 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.”

What is UIC doing to address the issue?

UIC is working with other universities and organizations to develop guidance and best practices. We will be reaching out researcher administrators and investigators to discuss disclosure requirements. In some cases, we may follow-up with the principal investigator to advise on updating disclosures to the federal sponsor.

Can I add disclosures to current projects or proposals?

Yes – contact OSP (awards@uic.edu) to have your application corrected.

Sources Updated on April 15, 2019

Research Security Federal Regulations:

NIH/Senate Communications:

Other Sources: