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International Research and Engagement

Last Updated: January 9, 2025 9:13:41 AM PST
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Find guidance, updates and relevant links for the UC San Diego community regarding international research and engagements.

Contents

What is Research Security?

University of California San Diego (UC San Diego) is committed to sustaining an environment that attracts and retains the brightest scholars and most exciting scholarships.

This is embodied by our commitment to the University of California's principles of academic freedom. Our many talented international population of scholars and students, both foreign-born and natural citizens, are essential to the research and education enterprise on our campus. We value all collective contributions beyond measure.

UC San Diego believes that scientific research and academic scholarship work best with open collaboration whether nationally or internationally. We are committed to having an open, welcoming campus; respecting the rights of faculty, staff, and students; and abiding by our Principles of Community. As a global research university, we proudly have hundreds of faculty and educators from around the world teaching in our classrooms.

The policies and procedures described here are in no way intended to imply or reflect prejudice or xenophobia. Such actions are contrary to the University of California’s principles and will not be tolerated.

Our aim is to ensure that your work, your reputation, and your efforts in association with the work and reputation of the university are as unassailable as possible and this begins with proper documentation and reporting procedures.

Like all other institutions of higher education, UC San Diego and its researchers must adhere to federal reporting and disclosure requirements. Not doing so could result in loss of federal funding, not only for the individual who failed to report something, but for the institution as a whole.

At the same time, we must protect research integrity; address the federal government's increasing concerns about foreign entities unduly influencing U.S. research, such as, malign foreign talent recruitment programs and other international collaborations; and adhere to the guidelines and policies the government puts in place.

It is the professional responsibility of every researcher at UC San Diego to completely and accurately disclose external financial interests and support, and any affiliations, activities, and relationships with any foreign entities.

It is essential for UC San Diego researchers to be transparent about any affiliations with foreign entities when applying for federal contracts and grants. Only by a researcher’s full disclosure will UC San Diego be in compliance with the University of California principles and federal regulations and therefore able to advise, assist, and protect researchers and their work. 

This situation is evolving and fluid. Please continue to keep yourself apprised.

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What is Research Security?

Research Security is protecting the means, know-how, and products of research until they are ready to be shared, by approval of the leader(s) of the research program and other stakeholders in their security.

—JSR-22-08, JASON. 2023. " Research Program on Research Security".

Related Information

Questions contact: RCIResearchSecurity@ucsd.edu

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  • Conflict of Commitment (COC): The University of California requires that faculty submit an annual COC report indicating whether or not they have engaged in outside activities during the fiscal year. Disclosure forms are required even if faculty members have nothing to disclose. Deans are responsible for ensuring that faculty members submit an annual disclosure and that the disclosures are accurate. A UC-wide software system called UC OATS is now being used for annual COC disclosures. Read more on the Academic Affairs UC OATS website. 
  • Conflict of Interest (COI) policies require all university employees who are conducting research or other research-related activities to disclose certain financial interests, whether domestic or foreign. Financial interests include anything of monetary value held by the employee, a spouse or registered domestic partner, and dependent children. Examples include income or payments for salaries; consulting or honorariums; holding a position such as founder, partner, employee or board member; and having ownership interests such as stocks, bonds or stock options. New financial interests should be disclosed within 30 days of their acquisition. Read more about required COI disclosures here.
  • Applicants for federal grants must list all “other support” prior to award as required by the sponsoring agency and are required to identify any changes in “other support” in each annual progress report. For NIH awards, the NIH Grants Policy Statement defines “other support” as all financial resources — whether federal or non-federal, commercial or institutional — in direct support of an individual’s research. This covers research contracts and grants, cooperative agreements and organizational awards, including any from foreign governments or entities. Contact the Office of Contract and Grant Administration for more information about the “other support” requirements of your sponsor.

It is important to remember that any external support or engagement that would be acknowledged in public presentations or publications is something that should also disclosed in grant applications, annual reports and closeout summaries and in university-related COI and COC disclosure forms (as required).

 

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Contact list
Area Name/email
Research Compliance and Integrity (RCI)

Jennifer J. Ford
Faith Hawkins

Academic Senate and Council on Research

Steven Constable;
Victor Ferreira; 
Gert Cauwensberghs

Conflict of Interest (COI)

Jennifer J. Ford

Cybersecurity

Arlene Yetnikoff

Export Control

Laura Provencher

Facility Securities

Eric Dean

Global Initiatives

Tamara Cunningham

Government Research Relations (GRR)

Natalie Alpert; 
Kathleen Ritzman; 
Christine Castillo

Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs (GEPA)

James Antony; 
Erica Lennard;

Jennifer (Oh) Bourque

Health Sciences Sponsored Project Pre-Award Office

Rachel Cook
Sponsored Research Administration

Lisa Meredith

Contract and Grant Administration for Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO)

Frank Truong

Office of Innovation and Commercialization (OIC)

 Dolores Palacios

 

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Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)

Department of Commerce

Department of Defense (DOD)

Department of Energy (DOE)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

National Defense Authorization Act

  • August 2018: Sec.1286 states 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 States.

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

National Science Foundation (NSF)

National Science and Technology Council (NSTC)

Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP)

  • This Memo discusses the issue of foreign influences on research and describes steps OSTP is taking to address these threats.

 

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The UC Office of the President has a comprehensive resource on foreign influence with more background information and links to the relevant UC system policies. There may be additional guidance in the future as foreign talent programs evolve. 

 

For additional information or assistance, please contact the Research Compliance and Integrity Office at rci@ucsd.edu or (858) 822-4939.

References

Department of Energy Directive O 486.1A, Foreign Government Sponsored or Affiliated Activities

Federal Bureau of Investigation Public Service Announcement

National Science Foundation 19-200 Dear Colleague Letter: Research Protection

Research Security Video Series

PowerPoint presentation (PDF) and one-sheet handouts from May 2019 international research town halls.

 

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For additional information, please contact the Research Compliance and Integrity Office at (858) 822-4939, rci@ucsd.edu.