NSF Aims to Improve Rigor of Research Security Policy With New Program

The National Science Foundation released new details last week on its planned “Research on Research Security Program,” which seeks to bring greater rigor to policies aimed at preventing foreign actors from misappropriating U.S.-funded research.

The program will fund academic research focused on identifying the scale of research security threats and assessing associated risk mitigation methods across areas such as cybersecurity, foreign travel security, and export control training.

The program’s scope is informed by a recent JASON advisory panel report that NSF commissioned and will be further shaped by an upcoming workshop . NSF is holding a webinar on July 26 to elaborate on the program’s goals and preview the workshop.

The agency first announced plans to create the program in its fiscal year 2024 budget request.