Office of Research Guidance on Foreign Activity Disclosure Requirements
DATE: August 5, 2019
To: All UF Faculty
From: David P. Norton, Vice President for Research
Subject: Office of Research Guidance on Foreign Activity Disclosure Requirements
The University of Florida is deeply committed to and strongly encourages international research, collaboration, and scholarship. Our UF faculty, staff, and graduate students come from all parts of the globe, interact with researchers and scholars located in over 100 countries, and are key to the success of our institution in its multifaceted mission.
As you know, UF faculty must fully disclose any outside activities with, or support received from, foreign entities, including universities. Regulations in this area are evolving, and there is a heightened expectation for disclosure. U.S. federal agencies that support university research have repeatedly expressed concerns to the university community over undisclosed agreements between individual agency-supported investigators and foreign institutions. Many of the potential difficulties center around agreements that individual faculty execute with foreign entities, the terms and conditions of which may put the individual in conflict with their obligations to UF as faculty members, and to the U.S. federal agencies that fund their research.
Our goal is to make this process as easy and efficient as possible. In an effort to assist UF faculty in meeting these requirements, the Office of Research has created a website (https://research.ufl.edu/foreign-activities-disclosure.html ) that guides faculty through the requirements. The website will be updated as additional information is provided by the federal agencies.
In carrying out our mission, the university is committed to supporting the research and scholarship endeavors of each university citizen, to encouraging the open academic exchange that exemplifies a great institution, to stewarding resources from the state and federal agencies, and to meeting regulatory requirements from our various sponsors.
Thank you for your help in ensuring compliance with all UF and federal policies. If you have any questions that pertain to this issue, please contact Terra DuBois, Director of Research Compliance and Global Support (tdubois@ufl.edu).
