Stanford University fined for failing to disclose researchers received foreign funds

Stanford University has agreed to pay nearly $2 million for allegedly failing to disclose that 11 ‘Principal Investigators’ (‘PIs’) – or academic researchers – were receiving foreign funds, including from two state-owned institutions in China at least in one instance, according to the US Department of Justice (‘DOJ’).

‘The United States alleged that on 16 grant proposals submitted to the Army, Navy, NASA and NSF, Stanford knowingly failed to disclose current and pending foreign funding that 11 Stanford PIs and co-PIs had received or expected to receive in direct support of their research,’ the DOJ said, 2 October.

It added that at least in one case, ‘Stanford knowingly failed to disclose to the Army, Air Force and NSF that a Stanford professor received research funding in connection with his employment at Fudan University, a foreign public university and from a foreign government’s national science foundation.’

It said Stanford ‘has agreed to pay $1.9 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by submitting proposals for federal research grants that failed to disclose current and pending support’ that Stanford faculty members were receiving from foreign sources.

Chinese ties to US academic institutions have been under special scrutiny by US authorities since January 2020, when Dr. Charles Lieber, the former chair of Harvard University’s Chemical Biology Department, was arrested for failing to disclose ties and funding from China.  The case shocked the US academic community and signalled the start of a crackdown by authorities in Washington on US educational institutions receiving funding from China while also working on sensitive US government projects.