Research Security

NSF defines Research Security as: Safeguarding the research enterprise against the misappropriation of research and development to the detriment of national or economic security, related violations of research integrity, and foreign government interference.

Speaking broadly, research security refers to national security concerns surrounding research involving certain types of sensitive data, intellectual property, export-controlled information, and other risks. Research security programs are designed to protect the means, know-how and products of research until it is properly disseminated.

NDSU is committed to fostering open scientific research and collaboration with scholars from across the world. While the vast majority of the world does not present a risk to the research enterprise, the federal government is concerned about threats to the integrity and security of our academic research including:

Improper foreign influence in federally funded research
Researcher failure to disclose foreign affiliations
Conflicts of interest (COI) and conflicts of commitment (COC) with federal funding agencies and U.S. employers
Intellectual property theft
Economic and academic espionage
Disclosure/diversion of confidential grant application information
Grant fraud

Research security programs are implemented to establish practices that are reliable and adaptive to emerging and evolving threats. The U.S. government has focused on disclosures of conflicts of interest, commitments, including affiliations with foreign entities, and research support provided by these entities as critical.

NDSU's Research Security Program consists of:

Travel Security
Export Controls
Disclosure Management
- Conflicts of Interest and Conflicts of Commitment
- Other Support/Current & Pending Support
- Foreign Talent Recruitment Programs
Digital Persistent Identifiers
Cybersecurity
Training
Hosting International Visitors
International collaborations

RCA Contacts

If you have questions about federal agency responses to research security specific to the areas below, contact the following individuals:

Val Kettner Sponsored Programs Administration For questions about grant proposals.		Kristy Shirley Research Integrity & Compliance For questions about potential conflicts of interest or conflicts of commitment.
Sharon May For assistance with export controls, international collaborations and/or visiting scientists.		Research and Faculty Development For assistance with proposal development including generating BioSketch or Current and Pending Support documents, setting up an ORCID ID or using SciENcv.
Joycelyn Lucke For questions about intellectual property and invention disclosures.

NDSU Policies

To ensure that all potential conflicts of interest are reported and managed, researchers must disclose their activities in accordance with these NDSU policies