Office of Research Integrity and Assurance

Foreign Support FAQs

The National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense, the National Science Foundation, and the Department of Energy have all issued statements regarding this issue, and the U.S. Congress is urging all federal funding agencies to address these issues. NASA also 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.” Because of this broad U.S. Government focus on “securing the U.S. research enterprise," we anticipate similar guidance, statements, or requirements will be forthcoming from other funding agencies.
Yes. NIH FAQs on “other support,” “foreign components,” and “financial conflict of interest” are available here.
You can add disclosures at: coi.gmu.edu
  1. Click on “Submit COI”
  2. Sign in
  3. Select “Submit COI” from the menu at the top of the page
  4. Choose "My SFIs,” “My Project Disclosures,” or “My Other Disclosures,” depending on the type of disclosure you are making. If in doubt, put your disclosure in “My Other Disclosures” and the conflict of interest committee staff will contact you to discuss your questions.
The report can be found here. A “Science” article summarizing major findings in the report can also be found here.
Highlighted stories can be found in the news section of our ORIA website, here. The Department of Justice has brought charges against researchers for failing to disclose/making false statements about participation in Chinese Talent Programs as well as for the acceptance of federal research grant funding at a U.S. university while simultaneously working full-time at a Chinese university (and hiding that appointment and support). One example is that in December 2019, Van Andel Research Institute (VARI) agreed to pay $5.5 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by submitting federal grant applications and progress reports to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in which VARI failed to disclose Chinese government grants that funded two VARI researchers. The settlement also resolved allegations that, in a Dec. 21, 2018 letter, VARI made certain factual representations to NIH with deliberate ignorance or reckless disregard for the truth regarding the Chinese grants. Other examples can be found at the below links:
Back