Biophysical Society Bulletin | January 2020

Public Affairs

Report onMitigating Threats to US Research Released The United States Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on Inves- tigations released a report on threats to US research. The report follows an assessment of several federal agencies’ efforts tomit- igate the threat Chinese talent recruitment programs pose to the US research enterprise. The Subcommittee reviewed the efforts of the National Science Foundation (NSF), National Institutes of Health, Department of Energy, State Department, Department of Commerce, Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), and theWhite House Office of Science and Technology Policy. American taxpayers contribute over $150 billion each year to scientific research built on a principle of collaboration. While the spirit of collaboration amongst research scientists remains constant, the underlying goals of politicians and governments do not. China has never shied away from its goal of becoming a science and technology world leader by 2050 and the Thousand Talents Plan (TTP) is its most prominent recruitment program, actively recruiting overseas researchers and scientists. However, these employment contracts violate US research values including non-disclosure provisions related to their research and employ- ment. Recent investigations have found that TTPmembers have willfully failed to disclose their participation in the program, in violation of their grant and employment agreements. The Subcommittee found that federal agencies are unprepared to prevent the transferring of taxpayer funded research and stealing of intellectual property. Specifically, the FBI noted they and other federal agencies were slow to recognize the threat of Chinese tal- ent recruitment programs. Grant-making agencies lack standards and coordination as they have varying policies on foreign talent recruitment plans, and in cases like the NSF, lack a compliance office to perform grant oversight functions. While efforts are now underway to change these shortcomings, the subcommittee finds that this lack of action has undermined the integrity of the American research enterprise and endangered national security.

The following recommendations were made to stem the flow of scientific research from the United States to foreign govern- ments. First and foremost, federal agencies must develop a comprehensive strategy to combat both illegal and extralegal transfers of US intellectual capital. In addition, the grant propos- al process and reporting requirement for disclosing all foreign conflicts of interest, conflicts of commitment, and all outside and foreign support should be standardized across agencies. The sub- committee recommends all grant-making agencies implement a compliance and auditing program to ensure grantees accurately report conflicts of interest and conflicts of commitment and that all information regarding grant recipients be shared across agencies. The report recommends federal agencies should declassify and disseminate more information on foreign talent recruitment plans, while working with research institutions to ensure they have the necessary cybersecurity practices in place to reduce the risk of research data misappropriation. Finally, the report recom- mends Congress and the Executive Branch reaffirm the critical importance of foreign students and researchers in the United States and the importance of international research collaboration. Summary of the JCORE Summit While the Joint Committee on the Research Environment (JCORE) Summit was invitation only, the summary report is open to all. Summit participants included members of indus- try, academia and agency representatives working to develop policy recommendations and best practices aimed at improv- ing the collective safety, integrity, productivity, and security of our nation’s multi-sector research environment. Summit par- ticipants worked in four thematic areas of transparency, in- tegrity, workload, and coordination. While the report focused on the key takeaways and remarks by Kelvin Droegemeier, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, JCORE continues to work toward developing a compre- hensive set of recommendations.

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January 2020

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