Stony Brook University (SBU) faculty, staff, and students are encouraged to participate
in international activities, as these may promote the creation of knowledge and enrich
learning experiences. These activities can be engagements with international persons, labs, institutions,
or other entity types. International research activities may be performed in the
U.S., outside of the U.S., or a combination.
International collaborations enriches SBU community’s intellectual and research endeavors,
international connections, and global perspectives. However, these collaborators may
be knowingly or unknowingly acting on behalf an entity of concern.
Researchers, as well as faculty and staff, engaging in international collaborations
are required to complete a Restricted Party Screening.
The U.S. government maintains lists of entities and persons who are restricted and/or
denied certain transactions. This includes the recent "1286 List" - Restricted Party Overview
All foreign person and entities must be screened for inclusion on any of these lists
prior to engaging in activities. If they appear on one of these lists you must contact
the Research Security Program before engaging in any activities or invitations.
In addition to addressing concerns related to restricted parties, other regulatory
requirements, such as access to export-controlled information, access to intellectual
property, and potential undue foreign influence concerns must be considered and reviewed
in balance with the benefits of the international collaboration.
Researchers, as well as faculty and staff, should review the below general guidance
for considerations when engaging in international collaborations.
Be aware of potential Academic Solicitation which may include requests from U.S. persons, or from foreign nationals located in the United
States or abroad, and may consist of:
Unsolicited applications or requests for undergraduate, graduate, postgraduate or
other research positions.
Unsolicited requests for access to research papers or other research-related publications
or documents.
Unsolicited requests for assistance with or review of thesis papers, draft publications
or other research-related documents.
Unsolicited invitations to attend and/or present at international conferences.
Fundamental Research
Fundamental research means research in science, engineering or mathematics, the results
of which ordinarily are published and shared broadly within the research community,
and for which the researchers have not accepted restrictions for proprietary or national
security reasons.
Important: Fundamental Research is invalidated when restrictions on free dissemination
of research or research methods used during the research are agreed to in a contract
or verbally with a sponsor.
Non-Fundamental Research
Proprietary research, industrial development, design, production and product utilization
the results of which are restricted, and
Government funded research that specifically restricts the outcome for national security
reasons are not considered fundamental research.
Important:
Non-fundamental research should not be conducted outside of the U.S. without a Research
Security Program review.
Non-fundamental research must be reviewed by the Research Security Program to evaluate
for export control and IT compliance.
The federal government maintains a list of critical and emerging technologies that
are potentially significant to U.S. national security.
Conduct of research in these areas with an international partner should be reviewed
by the Research Security Program.
Federal Resource: Critical and Emerging Technologies List Update (February 2024); Fast Track Action Subcommittee on Critical and Emerging Technologies
of the National Science and Technology Council.
The federal government has identified China, Iran, Russia and North Korea as Countries
of Concern.
There are additional considerations when collaborating with individuals/entities in
Countries of Concern contact the Research Security Program for a review of the collaboration
and discussion about any potential risks or restrictions.
Faculty members who are offered appointments at other academic institutions are required
to follow the Approval Process for Faculty Members who are Offered Appointments at Foreign and Domestic
Institutions. Faculty should carefully review the terms for external appointments, especially
if they have federally sponsored research to ensure that the terms of the agreement
are not in conflict with their SBU responsibilities. Examples of potential conflicts
include:
time commitment
scientific overlap
intellectual property assignment
attribution in publications
Faculty should understand the characteristics of foreign talent recruitment program (FTRP). Most federal sponsors prohibit a principal investigator or key personnel
from participation in a malign foreign talent recruitment program (MFTRP) and/or consider
participation in any FTRP when making award determinations.
U.S. federal agencies are increasing efforts to identify and counter undue foreign
influence in federally-funded research and have implemented a variety of policies
and processes for these purposes. Faculty and staff should understand how federal
funding agencies will review and consider their international relationships. Review the information on Federal Sponsor Risk Reviews.
Publications should accurately reflect affiliations, contributions and support. U.S.
federal agencies also monitor publications to ensure that foreign components, international
collaborators and funding support have been properly reported both in the manuscript
and to the agency. Review the Recommendations on Authorship from the Provost's Office.
Note: Several SBU departments also have authorship guidelines for their area.
Export Control Review
Researchers , as well as faculty and staff, engaging in international collaborations
have an obligation to be aware of export restrictions applicable to the conduct of
international collaborations. The Export Control Compliance team can provide support with potential export controls
issues for international collaborations. For additional information review the International Collaboration Guidance.
Beyond Countries of Concern (China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia), the Department of Treasury, Office of Foreign Asset Controls places restrictions on
certain persons, entities, and countries. Full list available here
If the collaboration will be with an individual or entity in an embargoed country,
i.e., North Korea, Cuba, Iran , Russia, Syria, Crimean Region of Ukraine, Luhansk
Region of Ukraine, or Donetsk Region of Ukraine, the faculty member or student's faculty
advisor MUST consult with the SBU Export Control Compliance team before conducting any activities.
If the collaboration includes the sharing of information that is notPublicly Available, in the Public Domain, or Published then that information is considered proprietary and needs to be reviewed for export
control determination.
Researchers with federal funding must understand when collaborations need to be disclosed
to and/or require approval from a federal sponsor. Disclosure and prior approval
requirements may vary among federal sponsors.
Commitment of effort or resources should have the appropriate campus approval. These
approvals may include any number of campus areas, including department, school/college,
Provost/EVP Health Sciences, OVPR and/or other administrative areas (e.g. procurement,
accounting, facilities).
Remember: Faculty and staff are not permitted to complete (i.e., sign) any agreement
that names Stony Brook University or The Research Foundation for SUNY or commits its
resources.
Commitment of effort or resources should have the appropriate campus approval. These
approvals may include any number of campus areas, including department, school/college,
Provost/EVP Health Sciences, OVPR and/or other administrative areas (e.g. procurement,
accounting, facilities). When an agreement is contemplated, these approvals are obtained during a campus review
process. For research collaborations these approvals happen through the routing
process in myResearch Grants.
Gifts may be in the form of donations of money, property, or resources with no clear
expectation of direct benefit to the donor.
All gifts to SBU should be reported to ensure proper review and management.
Gifts from Countries of Concern or Restricted Parties (or their subsidiaries/U.S.
counterparts) must be reviewed by the Research Security Program.
If gift funds are used to support sponsored research there may be additional reporting
to the research sponsor (e.g. disclosure of other support to the National Institutes
of Health).
International activities that involve the collection, use, or transfer of personal
data may be subject to additional regulations (e.g., European Union's General Data
Protection Regulation, China's Personal Information Protection Law).
Important: SBU is not currently not able to comply with GDPR regulations and similar types of regulations from other countries.
Human subjects research that takes place outside of the U.S. requires additional information
and assurances during the IRB approval process. Data that is collected outside of
the U.S. may be subject to country specific or international laws (see Data Compliance
above). Human Subjects Standard Operating Procedures (Section 17.3) and GDPR and Human Subjects Research information from the Office of Research Compliance.
The Division of Laboratory Animal Resources routinely assists researchers in the importation and/or exportation of animals from
other institutions (i.e. non-vendor sources). It is important for the researcher to
plan ahead since there are numerous steps that have to be completed by both the sending
and receiving institutions.