As a 21st century university focused on groundbreaking collaborative research with research projects throughout the world, FIU fully supports federally funded research and international collaborations. As a steward of Federal funds, we are committed to protecting U.S. research and innovation and the need to comply with Federal directives and disclosure regulations.
Please see below for FIU specific guidance and resources regarding researchers’ compliance obligations.
Disclosure of foreign support:
ORED proposal and award personnel will continue to work with PIs at proposal and just in time (award) stages to confirm that all key personnel have listed all pending proposals and active awards and to inquire that all foreign components and “other support” have been properly disclosed. If a researcher has any questions or needs to disclose any previously undisclosed foreign support they should contact Robert Gutierrez, Assistant Vice President for Research at gutierrr@fiu.edu.
Participation in foreign government-sponsored talent programs.
A question has been added to the electronic proposal routing approval form (ePRAF) to inquire if there has been or will be any participation in a foreign sponsored talent program. Researchers are reminded that participation in a foreign government sponsored talent program may jeopardize your ability to receive future federal funding for research or your ability to collaborate with U.S. government agencies. Additionally any such participation must be disclosed via the institution’s Report of Outside Activities/Conflict of Interest System and such participation must be approved institutionally prior to engaging in such activity.
Please note that federal agencies do not have a unified definition of what constitutes a foreign talent program. As such, ORED encourages you to contact Robert Gutierrez, Assistant Vice President for Research, to discuss offers for research which will be awarded to you as an individual (not through FIU) which may require frequent travel to or extended stays in the foreign country from which the offer of research support originated since these are possible indicators that the activity could constitute a government-supported foreign talent program.
Collaborating with international subawardees.
ORED has established formal procedures for administering both domestic and foreign subawards. All subrecipients are subject to a risk assessment and restricted screening process as set forth in ORED operating procedures. Subawards with foreign entities are subject to additional monitoring given the inherent risks associated with projects carried out abroad. Contact Regnier Jurado, Director of Research Management Solutions, with any questions related to foreign subawards.
“Pre-travel” guidance and electronic device guidance.
ORED has and will continue to provide pre-travel guidance to researchers traveling abroad on sponsored projects as part of the Travel Authorization (TA) process and approval conducted by ORED Post Award. Please note that travel to sanctioned or embargoed countries and other countries with heightened security requirements require approval by the university travel committee as well additional guidance from the Export Control Liaison in the Office of Compliance.
Please note also that U.S. export control laws may restrict equipment and technology that you may take abroad, including laptops or other types of equipment. Typically, laptops with commercial software that is available to be purchased freely in commerce such as word processing software may be taken abroad without issue, but any proprietary or encryption software may be restricted by export control laws. For Microsoft products, you can check whether a license for exporting may be needed at http://www.microsoft.com/exporting/default.htm. Generally, if the laptop is owned by FIU and does not contain any proprietary or encryption software, you may take a laptop with you internationally without need of a government license if all the following conditions are met (known as the temporary export exemption):
1) The laptop will be returned to the U.S. within one year of its “export” date.
2) The laptop qualifies as a “tool of the trade” because it is a common and reasonable tool for the lawful activities and undertakings of your profession.
3) You retain “effective control” over the laptop while abroad by either retaining physical possession of it or securing it in such an environment as a hotel safe, bonded warehouse or a locked, guarded exhibit facility.
4) You will accompany the laptop abroad, or it will be shipped within one month before departure, or at any time after departure.
5) You are not going to any country on the list of sanctions country of the Office of Foreign Assets Control found at http://www.treas.gov/offices/enforcement/ofac/programs/.
If the laptop is personally owned, and does not contain any proprietary or encryption software, you may generally take the laptop with you internationally without need of a government license if all the following conditions are met (known as the baggage exemption):
1) You or your immediate family member personally owns the laptop
2) The laptop is intended for and necessary and appropriate for your use or the use of your immediate family members traveling with you.
3) The laptop is not intended for sale or other disposal.
If you have any questions about whether any equipment or technology that you are planning to take abroad is restricted, please contact the Office of University Compliance and Integrity – the Office of Export Controls, at 305-348-2216 or email export@fiu.edu.
Report Inventions and Intellectual Property.
Researchers are reminded to promptly report inventions and intellectual property (IP) disclosures to the Office of Technology Management and Commercialization in accordance with sponsor requirements and institutional policies and procedures. See https://research.fiu.edu/ored/otmc/ for further guidance.
Processes for securely hosting foreign visitors in research laboratories
ORED, in coordination with the Office of Compliance and Academic Affairs is currently developing guidance and screening process recommendations for all foreign visitors entering research labs, including visiting faculty.
Export Control Compliance
Researchers are reminded of their continued responsibility to adhere to export control requirements as detailed in the University’s export control policies and procedures (see list of policies below) as well as any project specific Technology Control Plans (TCPs) which may be implemented for their specific projects.
Compliance with institutional reporting requirements for Report of Outside Activities (ROA) and Conflict of Interest (COI).
The University has added a section to the ROA/COI system to capture information required by federal agencies addressing foreign influence concerns called “International Activities/Interests.” This section must be completed annually and when there is a material change. The new section states:
“Please provide the following information relating to any international affiliations, activities or interests which you have. When reporting the information below, do not limit your responses only to affiliations, interests or collaborations relating to this specific disclosure or any current research that you are performing or proposing to perform. Rather, report any international affiliations, activities or interests whether or not they are related to this specific disclosure or any of your current or proposed research activities.
Do you have any appointments, affiliations, activities, interests or collaborative projects (whether paid or unpaid and even if described as honorary, courtesy, adjunct or other similar description) with any foreign university or other foreign entity or foreign government, including any involvement in any talent programs (e.g., programs in which you have been recruited by a foreign university, entity or government)? If yes, please provide the details in the comment box, including the name of the foreign university, entity or government involved as well as the talent recruitment program involved, if any, and the nature of the appointment, affiliation, activities, interests or collaborative project.
If you do not have any of the above appointments, affiliations, activities, interests or collaborative project, check here: ____”
Please note that it remains the researcher’s responsibility to accurately report outside activities and conflicts of interest in accordance with University reporting requirements.
Publications and Presentations
Researchers should be cognizant to accurately disclose author institutional affiliations, conflicts of interest and research support per journal guidelines for publications and presentations. Submitting accurate information with manuscripts limits discrepancies between Other Support disclosed in proposal applications and research support, affiliations and conflicts of interest printed in a publication journal.