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:
Research Security Contacts

Questions about federal agency responses to research security can be directed to:

Kristy Shirley
Research Integrity, Security & Compliance
For question about research security, institutional disclosure procedures, potential conflicts of interest or conflicts of commitment.

Sponsored Programs Administration
For questions about Federal agency requirements for proposal submissions.

Sharon May 
Export Control Administrator
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
Assistant Director, Business Development
For questions about intellectual property and invention disclosures.

Office of IT Security
For questions about cybersecurity and electronic storage of sensitive and/or confidential documents.
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

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