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Definitions

Foreign Affiliation, as defined in 15 U.S.C. § 638(e)(16), means a funded or unfunded academic, professional, or institutional appointment or position with a foreign government or government-owned entity, whether full-time, part-time, or voluntary (including adjunct, visiting, or honorary). This includes appointments or positions deemed adjunct, visiting, or honorary with research institutions located in a foreign country of concern.

Foreign Affiliations are any of the following with  foreign institutions of higher education, foreign governments, foreign companies or foreign nationals:

  • Research collaborations
  • Agreements or contracts
  • Appointments or titles
  • Teaching or training engagements
  • Consulting engagements
  • Talent recruitment programs
  • Financial interests
  • Visiting scholars
  • Intellectual property
  • Advising or mentoring engagements
  • Speaking engagements
  • Committees or boards
  • Laboratories outside the U.S.
  • Travel or site visits paid for by a foreign source
  • Program evaluations paid for by a foreign source
  • Contracts with or payments to a foreign business
  • Ownership of a foreign business
  • Any other foreign affiliation

Per the NIH's Grant Policy Statement and Reminder on Foreign Components, a Foreign Component is "the performance of any significant scientific element or segment of a project outside of the United States, either by the recipient or by a researcher employed by a foreign organization, whether or not grant funds are expended. Activities that would meet this definition include, but are not limited to, (1) the involvement of human subjects or animals, (2) extensive foreign travel by recipient project staff for the purpose of data collection, surveying, sampling, and similar activities, or (3) any activity of the recipient that may have an impact on U.S. foreign policy through involvement in the affairs or environment of a foreign country. Examples of other grant-related activities that may be significant are:

  • 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.

Foreign travel for consultation is not considered a foreign component."

Foreign Interests are:

  • Participation in a foreign talent or similar-type program
  • All resources and other support, both domestic and foreign, for ongoing research projects, including those conducted at a different institution
  • In-kind contributions from domestic and foreign institutions or governments that support your research activities
  • Any payment, reimbursement, travel support or other compensation, of any amount, that you personally receive, or will personally receive, from a foreign entity

A Foreign Talent Recruitment Program is an effort organized, managed, or funded by a foreign government, or a foreign government instrumentality or entity, to recruit science and technology professionals or students (regardless of citizenship or national origin, or whether having a full-time or part-time position). (National Institute of Standards and Technology: Strengthening Disclosure Requirements and Assessing Training Could Improve Research Security, GAO-24-106074. )

Here is a more specific definition:

A foreign talent recruitment program is any program, position, or activity that includes compensation in the form of cash, in-kind compensation, including research funding, promised future compensation, complimentary foreign travel, things of non de minimis value, honorific titles, career advancement opportunities, or other types of remuneration or consideration directly provided by a foreign country at any level (national, provincial, or local) or their designee, or an entity based in, funded by, or affiliated with a foreign country, whether or not directly sponsored by the foreign country, to an individual, whether directly or indirectly stated in the arrangement, contract, or other documentation at issue.9

Consistent with Section 10632(d) of the CHIPS and Science Act, a foreign talent recruitment program does not include the following international collaboration activities, so long as the activity is not funded, organized, or managed by an academic institution or a foreign talent recruitment program on the lists developed under paragraphs (8) and (9) of Section 1286(c) of the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 (10 U.S.C. 4001 note; Public Law 115-232):

  1. Making scholarly presentations and publishing written materials regarding scientific information not otherwise controlled under current law;
  2. Participating in international conferences or other international exchanges, research projects or programs that involve open and reciprocal exchange of scientific information, and which are aimed at advancing international scientific understanding and not otherwise controlled under current law;
  3. Advising a foreign student enrolled at an institution of higher education or writing a recommendation for such a student, at such student's request; and
  4. Engaging in the following international activities:
  • Activities that are partly sponsored or otherwise supported by the United States such as serving as a government appointee to the board of a joint scientific fund (e.g., the U.S.- Israel Binational Industrial Research and Development Foundation); providing advice to or otherwise participating in international technical organizations, multilateral scientific organizations, and standards setting bodies (e.g., the International Telecommunications Union, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, etc.); participating in a Fulbright Commission program funded in whole or in part by a host country government; or other routine international scientific exchanges and interactions such as providing invited lectures or participating in international peer review panels.
  • Involvement in national or international academies or professional societies that produce publications in the open scientific literature that are not in conflict with the interests of the federal research agency (e.g., membership in the Pontifical Academy of Sciences or The Royal Society).
  • Taking a sabbatical, serving as a visiting scholar, or engaging in continuing education activities such as receiving a doctorate or professional certification at an institution of higher education (e.g., the University of Oxford, McGill University) that are not in conflict with the interests of the federal research agency.
  • Receiving awards for research and development which serve to enhance the prestige of the federal research agency (e.g., the Nobel Prize).
  • Other international activities determined appropriate by the federal research agency head or designee.

 

Malign Foreign Talent Recruitment Programs are foreign government-sponsored talent recruitment programs operated with the intent to import or otherwise acquire from abroad, sometimes through illicit means, proprietary technology or software, unpublished data and methods, and intellectual property to further the military modernization goals and/or economic goals of a foreign government. (National Institute of Standards and Technology: Safeguarding International Science Research Security Framework, NIST IR 8484 (2023))

Here is a more specific definition that will help you identify a Malign Foreign Talent Recruitment Program:

A Malign Foreign Talent Recruitment Program means any program, position or activity that includes compensation or in-kind compensation (including research funding, promised future compensation, complimentary foreign travel, things of non de minimis value, honorific titles, career advancement opportunities, or other types of remuneration or consideration directly provided by a foreign country at any level (national, provincial, or local) or their designee, or an entity based in, funded by, or affiliated with a foreign country), whether or not directly sponsored by the foreign country, to the targeted individual, whether directly or indirectly stated in the arrangement, contract, or other documentation at issue, in exchange for any of the following:

  • Unauthorized transfer of intellectual property, materials, data products or other nonpublic information owned by a US entity or developed with a US federal research & development award to a foreign government or an entity based in, funded by, or affiliated with a foreign country regardless of whether that government or entity provided support for the development of the intellectual property, materials, or data products;
  • Recruitment of trainees or researchers to enroll in a program, position or activity
  • Establishing a lab or company, accepting a faculty appointment or undertaking employment or an appointment in violation of the terms and conditions of a UA federal research & development award
  • Inability to terminate the contract or agreement except in extraordinary circumstances
  • Limited capacity to carry out a research & development award because of funding or effort related to the foreign talent recruitment program
  • Requirement to engage in work that substantially overlaps or duplicates a US federal research & development award
  • Must apply for and successfully receive funding from the foreign government with the foreign organization as the recipient
  • Must omit acknowledgement of US home institution and/or US funding agency
  • Must not disclose participation to US home institution and/or US funding agencies
  • Conflict of interest or commitment

and is sponsored by

  • a foreign country of concern or an entity based in a foreign country of concern, whether or not directly sponsored by the foreign country of concern; an academic institution on the list developed under section 1286(c)(8) of the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 (10 U.S.C. 4001 note; Public Law 115-232); or  
  • an academic institution on the list developed under section 1286(c)(8) of the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 (10 U.S.C. 4001 note; Public Law 115-232); or  
  • a foreign talent recruitment program on the list developed under section 1286(c)(9) of the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 (10 U.S.C. 4001 note; Public Law 115-232).