A prominent American university has agreed to pay a US$2.1 million settlement to resolve allegations that it failed to disclose employees’ ties to China when applying for federal grant funding, the Department of Justice announced on Monday.
Ohio State University’s (OSU) settlement relates to Nasa and National Science Foundation (NSF) grants that provided funding to the university from November 2012 to August 2023.
Both Nasa and the NSF required the public university to disclose “foreign government support received by any principal investigator (PI) or co-PI on the grant application”, according to a Department of Justice press release.
The NSF was established by Congress in 1950 and funds scientific research through grants, while Nasa oversees the US space programme, conducting research in areas including aeronautics and space exploration.
The US$2.1 million settlement will specifically resolve allegations that, since 2014, annual faculty activity reports submitted to OSU identified affiliations with Chinese universities and state-run research organisations, but the university did not disclose this information to Nasa or the NSF.
In addition, the university learned in 2019 that a principal investigator on Nasa grants was a participant in the Thousand Talents Programme, which the department said was established by the Chinese government “to recruit individuals with knowledge or access to foreign technology intellectual property”.
OSU did not notify Nasa or the NSF until four years later in 2023, the release said, adding that the US had identified additional employees who worked on those grants who were affiliated with, collaborated with, or received funding from China.
“The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only and there has been no determination of liability,” the Department of Justice stated.
The Thousand Talents Programme is a state-backed recruitment initiative that began in 2008, aimed at attracting overseas Chinese academics through cash grants that fund research and living costs.
American intelligence officials have accused the programme of “[facilitating] the legal and illicit transfer of US technology, intellectual property and know-how” to China.
Beijing has consistently dismissed these allegations, framing it as a legitimate academic exchange.
Also in Monday’s release, the Department of Justice noted that since 2011, US federal law has prohibited the use of grant funds for collaborations with China, Chinese universities, or any Chinese-owned companies.
“American universities that benefit from the federal government’s support for scientific research and advancement must fully disclose all foreign funding in their grant applications,” said Brett Shumate, assistant attorney general at the Justice Department’s civil division.
“We will continue to hold accountable any university that fails to comply with disclosure requirements designed to protect research security and federally funded scientific achievements.”
The settlement comes amid a broader push from the Donald Trump administration, which has increasingly treated collaboration with China as a threat to the United States’ national security.
In July, the NSF announced plans to prohibit NSF-funded projects from collaborating with Chinese entities on US restricted-party lists, including their employees.
That policy, which the NSF intends to implement in federal financial year 2027, comes amid a broader congressional push by House Republicans to curb academic partnerships between China and the US. -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
