Conflicts of Interest

Involvement of faculty and / or professional staff with appropriate commercial enterprises is an important part of the transfer of knowledge and is encouraged by UD to enhance both educational and research programs.  UD personnel who have an interest that may bias or give the appearance of biasing their research may have a conflict of interest.  University of Delaware’s Research Policy 6-11 defines a potential conflict of interest as an occurrence when there is a divergence between an individual’s private interests and his or her professional obligations, such that an independent observer might reasonably question whether the individual’s professional judgment, commitment, actions, or decisions could be influenced by considerations of personal gain, financial or otherwise.  UD has a webform for the annual disclosure of potential conflicts of interest.  If a conflict exists, then a management plan is established that includes the investigator, the chair of the investigator’s department, the dean of the investigator’s college, and the Research Office.  For specifics and further explanation of conflicts of interest and UD’s management of conflicts, see:

Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) Procedures

Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) is designated information that requires safeguarding or dissemination controls pursuant to and consistent with applicable laws, regulations, and government-wide policies. Information is deemed CUI by the federal government because it is sensitive in nature. There are two CUI registries – the CUI Registry is maintained by the National Archives, and the DOD CUI Registry is maintained by the US Department of Defense (DOD). The improper safeguarding of DOD CUI (also referred to as Covered Defense Information) may impact national security. DOD CUI is unclassified but requires controls to prevent release of information that, if publicly associated with defense missions or aggregated with other sources of information, can reveal exploitable information to US adversaries. For specifics and further explanation of CUI procedures download the following pdf:

Export Control

UD research is subject to U.S. Export Control laws that protect national security, foreign policy, and trade, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), implemented by the U.S. Department of State and the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), implemented by the U.S. Department of Commerce. The Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC), which is part of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, is responsible for administering and enforcing economic and trade sanctions against certain nations, entities, and individuals.

UD complies with export control laws and regulations related to the export of both goods and services.  These laws and regulations control the export of strategic information, technology and services to foreign countries, as well as to foreign nationals inside the United States.  Information about export controls is available at: https://research.udel.edu/regulatory-affairs/#3.

Financial Disclosures

In accordance with the University “Conflict of Interest Policy and Procedures for Faculty and Staff“ (Research Policy 6-11), faculty and professional staff must disclose their significant financial interest as defined in the Policy, in addition to those of their spouses and dependent children. Disclosures must be completed via UD web form annually and within 30 days of any changes to previously disclosed interests.

Additionally, UD investigators are expected to disclose current and pending support when submitting federal proposals.  The National Science Foundation (NSF), for example, in its Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide, calls for the disclosure of “all current and pending support for ongoing projects and proposals, including this project, and any subsequent funding in the case of continuing grants” in proposals.  Funding sources include, but are not limited to, federal, state, foreign, foundations (public or private), industrial, and internal funds.  The National Institutes of Health (NIH) disseminated a notice on July 10, 2019 clarifying that support includes “all resources made available to a researcher in support of and/or related to all of their research endeavors, regardless of whether or not they have monetary value and regardless of whether they are based at the institution the researcher identifies for the current grant.”

Foreign Components

The July 10, 2019 NIH notice provided guidance regarding “the need to report foreign activities through documentation of other support, foreign components, and financial conflict of interest to prevent scientific, budgetary, or commitment overlap.”  The NIH Grants Policy Statement defines a foreign component as “[t]he performance of any significant scientific element or segment of a project outside of the United States, either by the recipient or by a researcher employed by a foreign organization, whether or not grant funds are expended.”  NIH approval may be required when foreign component involvement is implicated.  Specifics associated with a particular sponsor should be determined on a case-by-case basis.

International Travel

Information for individuals traveling internationally is available through the Research Office.  The Vice President for Research, Scholarship and Innovation issued a December 2015 memorandum regarding “University Procedure for International Travel with Electronic Devices” to remind University of Delaware (UD) employees of the states-of-nature and UD expectations that exist when traveling internationally with mobile devices, laptop computers, personal-digital assistants and other electronic devices. Further safe travel practices information is available at Secure UD.

NASA China Certification

The federal Appropriations Acts which fund the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) include a prohibition regarding the People’s Republic of China (PRC). This restriction prohibits NASA from funding any joint scientific activity with the PRC. Since the federal restriction was implemented in 2011, NASA has included terms in grants, contracts and solicitations stating that proposers and award recipients may be ineligible for funding if the NASA project includes bilateral involvement of China or Chinese owned companies.

The China restriction on NASA funding originated in Public Law 112-10 (2011) and has been included in each subsequent U.S. Consolidated Appropriations Act. The language states:
None of the funds made available by this Act may be used for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)… to develop, design, plan, promulgate, implement, or execute a bilateral policy, program, order, or contract of any kind to participate, collaborate, or coordinate bilaterally in any way with China or any Chinese-owned company unless such activities are specifically authorized by a law enacted after the date of enactment of this Act.

NASA defines “China or Chinese-owned company” to mean the PRC, any company owned by the PRC, or any entity incorporated under the laws of the PRC; this includes entities such as Chinese colleges, universities, research institutes, and any government unit. The law does not restrict individual involvement based on citizenship or nationality.

NASA addresses the China restriction in the Grant and Cooperative Agreement Manual (GCAM): “In addition, proposals that include the participation of China or any Chinese-owned company are ineligible to receive an award…”

Due to this federally-mandated restriction, NASA may not issue an award to the University of Delaware if there will be bilateral involvement of the PRC or a Chinese-owned company in the proposed project.

In order to verify there will be no bilateral involvement of the Chinese government or Chinese-owned companies, the University of Delaware requires that a certification form be completed by every member of UD senior/key personnel prior to the submission of each NASA proposal. This applies to both proposals in which UD is serving as the lead or as a subrecipient. The signed form(s) should be uploaded to the UD proposal record as an attachment named “2#A#####_NASA_Cert” at the time of routing the proposal.

The NASA Proposal Certification which includes additional information and instruction can be accessed here.

Office of Foreign Assets Control

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Department of the Treasury administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions based on US foreign policy and national security goals against targeted foreign countries and regimes, terrorists, international narcotics traffickers, those engaged in activities related to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and other threats to the national security, foreign policy or economy of the United​ States. ​OFAC publishes lists of individuals and companies owned or controlled by, or acting for or on behalf of, targeted countries. Use the links below to view the latest OFAC changes.

Restricted Party Screening

Restricted party screening is conducted prior to the initiation of collaboration with international entities. Restricted party screening identifies individuals and entities with whom UD should not interact. Restricted parties, for example, may be listed because they are associated with a terrorist organization, because they have been identified as a threat to national security, or because they have a history of corruption. These lists are updated regularly.

Names of parties with whom UD investigators are considering interacting are provided to and screened by the Research Office. The Research Office utilizes software that accesses numerous databases of individuals and entities that are barred or are restricted from transacting with U.S. entities. The software continues to monitor the screened parties and alerts the Research Office if there is a change in status.

In addition to this software, the U.S. Government maintains a Consolidated Screening List that is available on the export.gov website.

Research Security Training

NEW DOE SECURITY TRAINING REQUREMENTS

Effective May 1st, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will require covered individuals to complete research security training prior to submitting DOE research proposals. The training requirement extends to subrecipients.

Covered Individuals. DOE defines a "covered individual" to include, at a minimum, any principal investigator (PI); project director (PD); co-principal investigator (Co-PI); co-project director (Co-PD); project manager; and any individual regardless of title that is functionally performing as a PI, PD, Co-PI, Co-PD, or project manager. The DOE may expand this list of designated roles to include other technical staff (such as postdocs and grad students), as specified in the applicable Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) and/or terms and conditions of the award.

Certifications. Each covered individual listed on the application must certify on their Current & Pending Support document that they have completed research security training within the preceding 12 months. Additionally, UD must certify at the time of submission that all covered individuals listed on the proposal application have completed the training.

Training. UD is utilizing CITI Program’s Research Security Training (Combined) course, a condensed version of the National Science Foundation’s more extensive research security training modules, to meet the federal training requirement. The condensed course takes approximately one hour to complete, as compared to the 4+ hours necessary to complete the extended NSF version. CITI’s combined course aligns with the requirements of Section 10634(B) of the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 and addresses research security topics including the importance of disclosure, risk mitigation and management, and international collaboration.

Records. To comply with the federal requirement, UD must maintain records of training completion to be provided to DOE upon request. The Research Office will utilize CITI’s reporting function to verify training completion. If a covered individual completed the research security training modules on the NSF website within the past year, please email a copy of the completion certificate to Clarissa Roth at RO-Agreements@udel.edu. 

CITI Instructions. Guidance on establishing a CITI user profile and accessing the online training is available at the link below.  Covered individuals must enter their UD email address (@udel.edu) in the “Preferred Email” field of their CITI Profile. This field is used as a link to PeopleSoft Financials to assist the University in certifying compliance.

Awards. For DOE awards containing the research security training requirement, any new covered individuals at the recipient and subrecipient levels added to the project must certify they have completed the training within thirty (30) calendar days of joining the project. Covered individuals previously identified in the proposal who have already certified and completed the research security training do not need to complete it again, even if they are submitting an updated Current and Pending Support Form during the life of the award.

Other Federal Sponsors. Research security training is one of required elements of a Research Security Program under National Security Presidential Memorandum 33 (NSPM-33) to safeguard United States research and development. The CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 codified the requirement for research security training into public law. The training requirement is being implemented across all federal sponsors, and updates will be shared with UD’s research community as they become applicable.

UD’s Research Security Training Program

• UD will utilize CITI’s Research Security Training (Combined) course across all federal sponsors.
• UD’s bi-annual cyber security training through KnowBe4 will be required for all covered individuals.
• Export Compliance training is required for all individuals listed on active Technology Control Plans.
• Conflict of Interest/Conflict of Commitment training is required at the time of completing the annual Conflict of Interest Disclosure Webform for all senior/key personnel submitting proposals and/or participating on active awards.

More information about the DOE requirement can be found here.

Financial Assistance Letter 2025-02, Research Security Training Requirements for all R&D Financial Assistance Awards, can be found here.