Ethical conundrums of current U.S. funding agency security efforts

Research security became a focal point for U.S. federal agencies funding academic research in 2018 when NIH started sending notifications to dozens of academic institutions about concerns involving foreign influence in research. The effort to determine the scope and extent of the foreign influence, which started years before 2018, continues today and has culminated in the release of draft Research Security Program (RSP) requirements. Lost in this effort are the ethical conundrums presented by the federal government's shifting requirements, inconsistent responses by academic institutions, and the potential chilling effect that all of this has on international research collaborations. This session will break down the concerns U.S. agencies have with inappropriate foreign influence in research, review how those concerns have evolved since 2018, and identify the ethical conundrums inherent to this topic.