Emerging Federal Guidance on Outside Influence

Integrity is the hallmark of all great universities. MSU, like our peer institutions, requires honesty and full disclosure of material facts related to outside affiliations in faculty research and creative activities.

Recently, the U.S. government began a multifaceted effort to raise compliance standards related to foreign influence on research, intellectual property, and associated technology implementation.

The Office of Research & Innovation wants to emphasize to colleagues at all levels that full and timely disclosure regarding research support and conflicts of interest is essential to the transparency the government requires and MSU expects. Currently the University requires all faculty to:

• Complete a Conflict of Interest disclosure at the time a new grant proposal is submitted, and at least annually:
• Complete the Outside Work for Pay disclosure and approval process, as required by policy:
• Fully and accurately complete all funding agency questions regarding any current and pending requests for financial support.

The Office of Research & Innovation has created this web page to help MSU faculty and staff stay current with emerging federal guidelines. The page will be updated as new information, guidelines, and resources become available.

MSU values its international collaborators and inter-institutional affiliations. Preservation of important international relationships will be facilitated by our careful attention to federal requirements of transparency in research and related activity.

Please read the memo dated July 3, 2019, from MSU leadership for more information.

Also see President Stanley's op-ed from The Hill dated July 30, 2019.

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