NSPM-33 was released in 2020 and requires all federal funding agencies to strengthen and standardize disclosure and research security requirements for all federally funded awards. To help institutions comply with requirements, the National Science Foundation (NSF) released “,” which describes what researchers need to disclose to federal funding agencies.
Examples of activities that need to be disclosed include:
- Academica, professional, or institutional appointments and positions, whether or not remuneration is received, and whether full-time, part-time, or voluntary
- Postdoctoral scholars, students, or visiting scholars who are supported by an external entity, whether or not they work on federally funded research projects
- Travel supported/paid by an external entity to perform research activities with an association time commitment
- In-kind contributions
NSPM-33 established requirements for institutional Research Security Programs to establish central training, awareness, and processes to protect U.S.-funded scientific research from undue foreign influence, including the exploitation of the open university research environment. Research institutions with at least $50 million in total federal research funding must implement a research security program that includes four elements:
- Cybersecurity
- Foreign Travel Security
- Research Security Training
- Export Control Training
In July 2024, the Office of Science and Technology Policy released the Research Security Program final rule, which aimed to standardize the research security program requirements across the federal funding agencies.
To satisfy training requirements, NSF has released . The Research Security and Export Control Office will be releasing alternative training modules in Spring 2025 to provide investigators flexibility in completing Research Security Training.
Foreign Travel Security
The Research Security and Export Control Office reviews international travel requests, provides investigators with restricted party screening and foreign travel security awareness materials, and completes an export compliance review prior to travel.