Foreign Interests in Sponsored Programs

Our Commitment to Collaboration

The University of Washington is committed to international collaborative research, with partnerships and projects in over 130 countries. Our track record of collaborative research, coupled with strong individual research groups has kept the UW globally competitive and provided us opportunities critical to advancing science and to solving society’s most pressing issues. The quality of our researchers and students make the UW a leader in funding, quality and impact.

Our Commitment to Compliance

Our collaborative approach is one of our principal values, but it can expose us to foreign influence security risks and to those who would seek to exploit U.S. academic institutions. We are dedicated to complying with all U.S. regulations governing international research collaborations, with the goal of mitigating our inherent vulnerabilities as an academic institution to ongoing and emerging threats to our national security, while preserving our ability to engage internationally.

Our Commitment to Our Researchers

We have been providing regular guidance and resources including requirements for disclosure of all foreign collaborations. Review the announcements on the Research homepage. We expect ongoing guidance from the NIH and other federal agencies to evolve. In conjunction with the Faculty Council on Research and the Research Advisory Board, we will be looking at how the UW, with our peers, define collaboration and how we can adapt research policy to this new understanding.

Foreign Interests in Sponsored Programs: What You Need to Know

Potential risks to national security at higher education and research organizations continue to be of national priority. As a result, federal sponsors are issuing guidance intended to mitigate these risks. Information and guidance from select sponsors is collected here for reference.

We will provide updates as they become available. Other federal sponsors may have different requirements. Please check specific funding opportunity announcements and relevant federal policies for individual applications.

Reporting Current and Pending or Other Support

UW researchers whose research is supported with federal funding should update and maintain their current and pending or other support documentation. Make sure to include all sources of support, foreign or domestic, including scholarships or fellowships.

When in doubt, err on the side of inclusion when completing Current and Pending or Other Support documentation. Inform yourself of all sponsor requirements and follow all directions for content and format.

Review more information for some of our major federal sponsors on the Current and Pending or Other Support page.

Malign Foreign Talent Recruitment Programs

In accordance with the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, all faculty, staff and other University personnel are prohibited from participating in malign foreign talent recruitment programs (MFTRP).

Most of the federal government’s attention has focused on programs originating in China, but MFTRPs have also been associated with other governments.

Malign Foreign Talent Recruitment Programs (MFTRPs) have the following characteristics.
Sponsored by a foreign entity of concern:

• A foreign country of concern (People’s Republic of China including Hong Kong and Macau, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation, the Islamic Republic of Iran, or any other country determined to be a country of concern by the Secretary of State); or
• An entity based in a foreign country of concern; or
• An institution or program on certain prohibited lists (contact the UW Director of Export Controls – Exports@UW.edu)

And is a program, position or activity that involves one or more of the following:

• Unauthorized transfer of intellectual property, materials, data or other nonpublic information;
• Recruitment of trainees or researchers to enroll in such program, position or activity;
• Establishing a laboratory or entity in a foreign country in violation of terms and conditions of a federal research award;
• Accepting a faculty position, or undertaking any other employment or appointment in violation of the standard terms and conditions of a federal research award;
• Being unable to terminate the activity except in extraordinary circumstances;
• Being limited in capacity to carry out a federal research award;
• Requirement to engage in work that overlaps or duplicates a federal research award;
• Requirement to obtain research funding from the foreign government’s entities;
• Requirement to omit acknowledgement of the U.S. home institution and/or the federal funding agency;
• Requirement to not disclose participation in the program, position, or activity;
• Having a conflict of interest or commitment contrary to a federal research award.

There is no particular formula or format for these programs and each one can be unique. Typically the entity reaches out to an investigator directly via email, letter, contract, application, or some other invitation to join.

Information available on MFTRPs continues to evolve. The UW Office of Research (research@uw.edu) can help researchers assess whether a specific program might be regarded as a malign foreign talent recruitment program.

Department of Energy

When the UW receives DOE awards that reference Order 486.1A, the PIs and other participating UW personnel must complete this Foreign Government-Sponsored Talent Recruitment Programs (FGTRP) Disclosure form.

While the DOE policy does not specify grant recipients or individuals funded under cooperative agreements at this time, a division of DOE can choose to include this requirement in the award terms and conditions.

Review more on DOE Guidance

• DOE current requirements and guidance on this ban
• Specific DOE Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for current and pending support requirements

DOE will also be maintaining a list of foreign talent programs that fall under this ban.

National Science Foundation

The NSF has a prohibition on participation in Malign Foreign Talent Recruitment Programs.

When the NSF Common Forms for Biographical Sketches or Current and Pending Support are completed they require each senior/key personnel to certify that they are not party to a malign foreign talent recruitment program, that the information is current, accurate, & complete, and that misrepresentations / omissions may be subject to prosecution.

Review more on Current and Pending or Other Support.

Department of Defense

The DoD is prohibited from providing funding to or making an award of a fundamental research proposal in which a covered individual is participating in a malign foreign talent recruitment program.We anticipate the DoD will also prohibit making funding and awards to proposing institutions that do not have a policy addressing malign foreign talent programs.

See the UW Presidential memorandum addressing participation in Malign Foreign Talent Programs.

Visiting Scholars and Sponsored Programs

A visiting scholar, in this context, is a foreign visiting graduate student, postdoc, or faculty member who will contribute in any way to the research set out in the scope of work.

Proposals/Just-in-Time

Visiting Scholar as Key Personnel

Visiting scholars (students, postdocs and faculty) must  provide Current and Pending or Other Support documentation if the sponsor requires it or if they meet the definition of a key personnel.

Visiting Scholar as a form of “Other Support” for PI

Documentation must also be provided if the visiting scholar is not considered key personnel, but is:

•  Participating in research efforts within the lab, and
•  Not paid through the UW,  and
•  Supported through scholarships, through an appointment at another university, an affiliation with an outside entity, or provides experimental materials to the research

On Projects

In most cases, the Principal Investigator (PI) does not need to receive prior approval for a visiting scholar (student, postdoc or faculty) to work on a project in the United States, such as a UW lab on campus, however:

• Report all participants on a project in the progress report whether or not they are paid from the project. This section also requests whether the individual’s primary affiliation is with a foreign organization.
• Visiting scholars who qualify as Senior/Key Personnel need to submit their Biosketches and Other Support in the “Personnel Updates” section of the RPPR, if this wasn’t submitted previously.
• U.S. government prior approval may be required for visiting scholars who are members of a foreign military or space organization.  This may also apply to any visiting scholars who are assisting a foreign government with military or space technology.
• Visiting scholars that arrive from institutions debarred by the U. S. government must only be exposed to public domain technology and the results of fundamental research which is defined as research results which are intended for publication/wide dissemination. Examples of debarred entities include:
  • Beihang University (aka Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (BUAA))
  • Beijing Institute of Technology
  • Harbin Institute of Technology/Harbin Engineering University (China)
  • National University of Defense Technology (China)
  • Northwest Polytechnical University (China)
  • Sichuan University
  • University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC)
  • University of Science and Technology of China

Foreign Components National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Prior approval is required before adding a foreign component to an NIH project. This is not a new requirement.

NIH defines foreign component as the performance of any significant scientific element or segment of a project outside of the United States either by the recipient or a researcher employed by a foreign organization, whether or not grant funds are expended.

As with any other significant change to a project, send your request to add a foreign component via OSP as a concurrence request.

Foreign Component Examples:

• Involvement of humans or animals at a foreign site
• Extensive foreign travel by grantee project staff for activities that support the project such as collecting data, surveys, samples or similar activities
• Any activity of the grantee or foreign researcher affiliated with the project that may have an impact on U.S. foreign policy through involvement in the affairs or environment of a foreign country
• 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

Activity conducted within the U.S. that involves non-U.S. resource support is NOT considered a “foreign component” such as:

• Foreign travel for consultation
• A visiting scholar working in a U.S. lab/site on the NIH project

Financial Interests Received from Foreign Institutions

With respect to disclosing financial interests for conflict of interest review, you are not required to disclose the following domestic sources of income (also see GIM 10):

• Income from seminars, lectures, or teaching engagements sponsored by the University, a federal, state, or local government agency, an Institution of Higher Education, an academic teaching hospital, a medical center, or a research institute that is affiliated with an Institution of Higher Education; or
• Income from service on advisory committees or review panels for the University, a federal, state, or local government agency, an Institution of Higher Education, an academic teaching hospital, a medical center, or a research institute that is affiliated with an Institution of Higher Education.

NIH has reminded the research community that these exclusions are limited to U.S. Institutions of higher education or a federal, state, or local government agency within the U.S. Therefore, all financial interests, including those received for the activities excluded in the U.S., must be disclosed if they are from a foreign institution of higher education or the government of another country.

• For UW research, disclose financial interests under procedures outlined in GIM 10.
• Not all financial interests are Significant Financial Interests (SFI). Significant Financial Interest is defined in GIM 10. It is broad, and includes forms of compensation, equity, sponsored/reimbursed travel, and intellectual property.
• Disclose both foreign financial interests and any other Significant Financial Interests in FIDS.
• While the UW does not require, and may not review, disclosures of financial interests not meeting the SFI standard, Investigators are encouraged to disclose all foreign financial interests.  When in doubt – DISCLOSE.

The Electronic Code of Federal Regulations establishes standards on Promoting Objectivity in Research for institutions that receive Public Health Services funding from a grant or cooperative agreement.

Institutional Disclosure and Reporting

As an institution, UW discloses foreign financial support as required under federal regulations and sponsor policies. This includes Section 117 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 and in accordance with the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022.

The UW discloses:

• Semiannually to the U.S. Department of Education any gifts received from and contracts with a foreign source that, alone or combined, are valued at $250,000 or more in a calendar year.
• Per NSF’s PAPPG – All current financial support, the value of which is $50,000 or more, including gifts and contracts, received directly or indirectly from a foreign source which is associated with a foreign country of concern.

Other Notes on Biosketches, Progress Reports, and Significant Financial Interests (SFI)

• Biosketches should be current and thorough.
• NSF Common Forms for Biographical Sketches or Current and Pending Support are completed they require each senior/key personnel to certify that they are not party to a malign foreign talent recruitment program, that the information is current, accurate, & complete, and that misrepresentations / omissions may be subject to prosecution.
• Progress Reports:
  • Key personnel should indicate any change in support that occurred over the last budget year.
  • Individuals whose primary affiliation is foreign who participate on a U.S. project must be disclosed in the Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR) Section D, Participants.
  • Foreign support provided to an individual who is participating in a substantive manner on the NIH project should report this as Other Support in the RPPR, Section D.2, Personnel Updates.
• SFI disclosures need to occur at time of proposal, within 30-days of joining ongoing research, annually, and within 30-days of acquiring any new or increased SFI. Please see:
  • GIM 10: Financial Conflict of Interest
  • Overview: Financial Conflict of Interest

NIH and NSF Guidance

• Pre & Post Award Disclosures Related to the Biosketch & Current and Pending Support
• NIH: Other Support
• NIH: Biosketch Format, Instructions and Samples
• NIH: NOT-OD-18-160 – SFI Reminder
• NSF: Policy Updates

Outside Professional Work for Compensation

Approval for outside work relationships with external entities, including foreign entities and governments must be requested in advance as described in:

• For faculty, librarians, and other academic personnel – Executive Order 57: Outside Professional Work Policy
• For professional or classified staff – Administrative Policy Statement 47.3: Outside Consulting Activities and Part-Time Employment by Professional or Classified Staff Employees

Intellectual Property and Inventions

Promptly report all inventions:

• To CoMotion, the University’s technology transfer office
• To federal sponsors as part of progress reporting

Researchers must take reasonable efforts to protect the University’s interest (and, in the case of federally-sponsored research, the federal government’s interest) in intellectual property developed in the course of their UW research.

Intellectual property developed under a sponsored research agreement is subject to the University’s policy on UW IP Disposition in Sponsored Program Agreements.

Peer Review

Individuals serving on NIH, NSF or other federal agency scientific peer review panels should note and comply with all requirements to maintain the confidentiality of the information in research grant applications.  There have been recent documented cases nationally of peer reviewers sharing information in grant applications outside of the peer review process. This is not allowed.

Contracts, including Purchasing Activity, with Certain Foreign Entities

The federal government, through executive order, law, regulations, sanctions and other limitations, restricts or prohibits transacting with certain entities, including Huawei Technologies, ZTE Corporation, Hytera Communications Corporation, Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Company, or Dahua Technology Company (or any subsidiary or affiliate).

In keeping with this prohibition, UW is not entering into transactions with the previously mentioned entities on certain U.S. proscribed parties lists, or other entities known to be indicted for crimes that threaten US intellectual property or economic wellbeing.

This prohibition is in addition to individuals or entities that are debarred, suspended or otherwise ineligible from receiving federal funding. Review examples of foreign universities that have been debarred in the On Projects section.