NSF announces JASON report: Fundamental Research Security

WSU is committed to raising its status as one of the country’s top research universities. But we’re not working alone. Alongside us are funders, such as the National Science Foundation (NSF), who are diligently working to ensure their grant money is put towards innovative and exciting research that will benefit our people, our country, and our world.

In order for WSU to grow, we need to continue to retain our talented researchers and staff, and help them collaborate with other brilliant minds across the globe. To ensure WSU is able to do this, we are advising everyone to read and consider the NSF JASON Report on protecting research and facilitating collaboration.

There are four main themes that emerged from the study:
1. The value of, and need for, foreign scientific talent in the United States;
2. The significant negative impacts of placing new restrictions on access to fundamental research;
3. The need to extend our notion of research integrity to include disclosures of commitments and potential conflicts of interest;
4. The need for a common understanding between academia and U.S. government agencies about how to best protect U.S. interests in fundamental research while maintaining openness and successfully competing in the global marketplace for science talent.

The report finds that “many of the problems of foreign influence that have been identified are ones that can be addressed within the framework of research integrity, and that the benefits of openness in research and of the inclusion of talented foreign researchers dictate against measures that would wall off particular areas of fundamental research.”

The report further explains that “we expect that a reinvigorated commitment to U.S. standards of research integrity and the tradition of open science by all stakeholders will drive continued preeminence of the United States in science, engineering, and technology by attracting and retaining the world’s best talent.”

Learn more about the NSF JASON report findings here.