The University of Maryland, College Park will pay a $500,000 settlement for allegedly failing to disclose the foreign funding of three researchers who simultaneously received federal grants.
Federal prosecutors alleged that the researchers, who collectively received five federal research grants between 2015 and 2020, were also the principal investigators on projects funded by three Chinese companies, Huawei Technologies, Taobao and Alibaba.
For Huawei, a big technology company, the Maryland researcher was studying “high energy density FeF3 conversion cathode materials and Li metal anodes,” according to the settlement agreement. For Taobao, an online shopping platform, the research was “large-scale behavior learning for dense crowds.” For Alibaba, a large online retailer, the research was about the “cyber-manufacturing of customized apparel,” according to the agreement.
The university said the nondisclosures were misunderstandings or mistakes.
“The university has consistently maintained, based on its own investigation and an independent investigation by outside counsel, that the nondisclosures were the result of good faith interpretations of agency disclosure guidance or unintentional clerical errors,” Vice President for Research Gregory Ball said in a statement.
The federal grants were from the National Science Foundation, which provides about a quarter of federal grants to colleges and universities, and the U.S. Army, both of which require grant applicants to disclose all current and pending support, including foreign government sources, received by their institution, according to the release.
“Complete and accurate disclosures are essential to federal agencies that make decisions on awarding federal grants,” Erek L. Barron, United States attorney for the District of Maryland, said in the release. “Those individuals and universities that knowingly fail to do so skew the grant awarding process in their favor and will be held accountable.”
A university spokesperson said that during the investigation the school reviewed and updated internal controls related to research compliance.
“The University is committed to meeting the highest standards of integrity in all research endeavors and is continually adding to an already robust system of policies and training to identify, prevent, and mitigate conflicts of interest and commitment, including those related to foreign engagements,” Ball said.
