A Foreign Talent Recruitment Program (FTRP) is defined by the National Science Foundation as an entity that facilitates “compensation provided by (a) foreign state to the targeted individual in exchange for the individual transferring knowledge and expertise to the foreign country”.
A Malign Foreign Talent Recruitment Program (MFTRP) is defined by an effort to use U.S. scientists and students to unethically or unlawfully acquire U.S. proprietary technology or software, unpublished data/methods and intellectual property, often for military and/or economic gain. Malign foreign talent recruitment programs are programs, positions or activities sponsored by a country of concern (China, Iran, North Korea or Russia) or by certain academic institutions.
The Chips & Science Act of 2022 prohibits federal dollars from being awarded to individuals who are involved actively associated with any MFTRP.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) requires that all Principal Investigators or Co-Principal Investigators named on an NSF grant, awarded on or after May 20th 2024 must annually certify in research.gov that they are not party to a Malign Foreign Talent Recruitment Program. NSF requires this certification annually. After logging into research.gov, the user will be prompted to provide a certification. Further instructions for navigating this process were provided by NSF and can be found here.
- What is not considered an FTRP? The federal government has carved out many activities that federally-funded researchers conduct with international colleagues. These activities typically do not present a research security risk:
- Making scholarly presentations and publishing written materials regarding scientific information that is not otherwise controlled under export control laws, regulations pertaining to controlled unclassified information, or other legal obligations.
- Participation 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 law.
- Advising a foreign student enrolled at an institution of higher education or writing a recommendation for such a student, at such student’s request.
Clarkson University prohibits employees, students and faculty members who are involved in federally funded research from participating in a Malign Foreign Talent Recruitment Program.