The Malign Foreign Talent Recruitment (MFTRP) Program Participation Policy at UConn and UConn Health aims to safeguard the integrity of federally funded research. In alignment with the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, the policy emphasizes international collaboration but prohibits covered individuals involved in UConn research from participating in malign foreign talent recruitment programs which pose research security risks.

Participation in a MFTRP is prohibited for those seeking funding from US federal agencies (such as the Department of Defense (DoD), Department of Energy (DOE), National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Science Foundation (NSF), etc.). The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits MFTRP participation looking back for the past 10 years. Researchers must certify they are not involved with a MFTRP at proposal submission and annually thereafter. Violations may result in disciplinary actions or disqualification from federal research funding.

A Foreign Talent Recruitment Program (FTRP) is an effort by a foreign government (including affiliated institutions of higher education and other affiliate entities) to recruit science and technology professionals and students. While participation in a FTRP will not necessarily impact a researcher’s ability to obtain U.S. federal grant funding, participation in a Malign FTRP will impede receipt of federal grant funding.

A Malign Foreign Talent Recruitment Program (MFTRP) is any program, position, or activity that provides compensation (including in-kind compensation such as research funding, complimentary foreign travel, honorific titles, access to laboratory spaces, and other forms of renumeration) by a foreign collaborator on a U.S. restricted party list OR a foreign country of concern, or an entity based in, funded by, or affiliated with a foreign country of concern (including institutions of higher education or government designees), in exchange for the individual conducting “malign” talent activities.

Currently, the listed countries of concern are China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia, although more countries could be added (or removed) in the future.

Activities that constitute “malign” talent activities can include:

• transferring intellectual property developed through a U.S. federal research grant to a foreign country;
• an obligation to recruit students, trainees, or researchers to the foreign institution of higher education;
• establishing a laboratory or company in a foreign country in violation of a federal research award;
• accepting a faculty position or other employment or appointment in violation of the terms of a federal research award;
• being unable to terminate the FTRP contract except in extraordinary circumstances;
• being limited in capacity to carry out a federal research award due to effort required for the FTRP;
• providing work that substantially overlaps or duplicates a U.S. federal research and development award;
• being required to submit research grant applications to foreign funding agencies on behalf of the foreign sponsoring organization;
• being required to omit acknowledgment of your U.S. home institution or U.S. federal funding agency;
• begin required to not disclose participation in the FTRP; or
• having a conflict of interest or commitment contrary to a federal research award.

Disclosure Requirements

More than anything else, federal funding agencies stress transparency in a researcher’s disclosure of participation in activities abroad. Individuals must disclose participation in a FTRP by:

• Updating the UConn and UConn Health Conflict of Interest (COI) disclosure form within 30 days of participation; and
• Working with UConn and UConn Health Sponsored Program Services (SPS) to update Current & Pending (Other) Support Pages to ensure disclosure to appropriate federal sponsors.

If you suspect involvement in or have been approached by a MFTRP, contact UConn’s Research Security and Compliance Office immediately at researchsecurity@uconn.edu. Fraudulent statements or claims (including intentional omissions) in violation of this policy may result in criminal, civil, administrative or university penalties.

UConn offers a 3 minute overview training on Malign Foreign Talent Program Participation:

If you have questions regarding compliance or need further clarification on policies related to MFTRPs, please reach out to the UConn Research Security and Compliance Office at researchsecurity@uconn.edu.

The CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 requires that PIs and senior/key personnel complete annual research security training on an implementation schedule to be driven by federal funding agencies. Each individual identified as a “covered individual” (defined below) must certify that they have completed the requisite research security training within 12 months prior to proposal submission.

To meet this research security training requirement, all Principal Investigators and key personnel included on a sponsored program proposal must complete research security training by October 1, 2025 or before any proposal submission thereafter.

• The Department of Energy (DoE) and National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) first implemented the research security training requirement for new proposal submissions effective May 1, 2025.
• The National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) have all released research security training and disclosure of other support requirements effective either October 2025, January 2026, May 2026 or, in the case of the USDA, effective immediately at the discretion of the agency.
• Once the training requirement is implemented, any new covered individuals added to the project must also certify that they have completed the research security training within 30 calendar days of joining the project.
• A particular RFP may include additional training requirements specific to that award, such as requiring training for all participants (not just covered individuals) on the project. Please review your RFP for any such requirements or ask SPS.
• Going forward, research security training must be refreshed annually to certify completion within twelve months prior to proposal submission.

UConn’s Sponsor Program Services (SPS) cannot submit a proposal unless all covered individuals have received training by the deadline required by the federal sponsor.

The training is currently open to all UConn and UConn Health employees and will facilitate your readiness for this requirement upon implementation by your targeted funding agencies.

Applicability: The law introduces a new term of “covered individuals” subject to this research security training requirement. A covered individual is an individual who:

• Contributes in a substantive, meaningful way to the development or execution of the scope of work of a project proposed for funding by a federal agency; and

• Is designated as a principal investigator (PI), project director (PD), coprincipal investigator (Co-PI), co-investigator (Co-I), co-project director (Co-PD), project manager, key personnel, and any individual regardless of title (inclusive of consultants, graduate students, or postdoctoral associates) that is functionally performing in one of these named roles.

At proposal, covered individuals will default to PIs, key personnel, anyone identified as responsible for the design, conduct or reporting of the research, and anyone else identified by the PI as a contributing in a substantive, meaningful way on the Internal Proposal Routing form.

Training: Research security training is designed to equip you with the knowledge and tools needed to understand behaviors that have led to improper or illegal transfers of U.S. government-supported research and development (R&D) based on incidents reported by federal research agencies. The training will also highlight the critical role of U.S. researchers in global scientific discoveries and the importance of attracting international talent to U.S. research institutions.

The UConn is using the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) Program’s “Research Security Training (Combined)” module to meet this training requirement. This CITI training module has been developed specifically for IHE researchers as a condensed version of NSF’s four-hour Research Security Training modules. Please allow yourself 1.5 hours to complete the CITI training. You can complete the training in stages and save your progress.

To complete the training, follow these steps:

Storrs and Regional Campuses: 

1. Register for the training through the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) Program.
2. To create an account in CITI, click on the Register button in the upper right.
   • Returning users may log in in the upper right corner.
3. Click on “Log in through my Organization” at the top of the page.
4. Enter “UConn – Storrs and Regional Campuses” in the search box.
5. Select “Continue to SSO Login/instructions.” The CITI Single Sign-on (SSO) will use your UConn NetID and password for your account (the system will ask you if there is another CITI account you would like to associate with your NetID account, and this option can be used to merge an old account with your new SSO account).
6. Follow the prompts to create an account.
7. Once you are logged in and under the UConn affiliation, on the page under your “Active Courses” and “Courses Ready to Begin,” scroll down to the gray box labeled “Learner Tools for UConn – Storrs and Regional Campuses” and select “Add a Course.”
8. Under the “Select Curriculum” webpage, scroll to the bottom of the webpage and tick the box for “I would like to review the Research Security”
9. Under the “Select Curriculum – Research Security” webpage, tick the box for “Research Security Training (Combined).”
10. Complete the training.

UConn Health:

1. Register for the training through the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) Program.
2. Click on the “Register” tab on the right side of the top screen.
   • Returning users may log in in the upper right corner.
3. Click on “Select Your Organization Affiliation” – In the box to “Search for organization,” enter “University of Connecticut Health Center,” selecting this option when it becomes available. (Note: Be sure to include Health Center in your selection)
4. Follow the prompts to create an account.
5. Course Enrollment Procedure –Once logged into CITI, under “Institutional Courses” to the right of “University of Connecticut Health Center,” click “View Courses” to see any assigned courses.
6. Click “Add a Course.”
7. You will see multiple questions on the CITI course enrollment page. For the purposes of the Research Security Training requirement, you will need to scroll down to Question 11, Research Security. Please check the Research Security Training (Combined) course to satisfy the Research Security Training requirement.

 —————————–Question 11——————————-

Research Security

Please select a Research Security from the options below:

• • • Research Security (Combined)

8. Complete the training.

Your Completion Report will automatically be shared with SPS and will also be accessible to you and SPS at any time from the CITI Program. 

If you experience problems locating or logging on to the training, please email researchsecurity@uconn.edu.

For more information on Research Security and Export Controls, please visit the OVPR Research Security Training page.

Thank you for your attention to this important new requirement. Your cooperation is essential in meeting these new research security requirements and maintaining the highest standards of compliance at UConn.

The RDS team suggests contacting us for support on ARPA-H submissions well before submitting a solution summary or proposal, as their programs and requirements frequently change. We are keeping up to date with these changes and can help your submission meet current requirements.

Background

Mission: The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) accelerates better health outcomes for everyone by supporting the development of high-impact solutions to society’s most challenging health problems.

Who They Are: ARPA-H advances high-potential, high-impact biomedical and health research that cannot be readily accomplished through traditional research or commercial activity. ARPA-H awardees are developing entirely new ways to tackle the hardest challenges in health.

Contact

This contact form can be used to connect with ARPA-H directly.

Mission Office ISOs

The four current ARPA-H focus areas translate to four mission offices. Each mission office has its own Innovative Solutions Opening (ISO) to replace the previous Open BAA. Interested applicants should submit their proposal to the Mission Office ISO that best fits their subject matter.

All Mission Office ISOs require solution summaries prior to a full proposal and have a closing date of March 3, 2029.

Health Science Futures (HSF)

Expanding what’s technically possible. Accelerating advances across research areas and removing limitations that stymie progress towards solutions. The tools and platforms developed apply to a broad range of diseases.

Proactive Health (PHO)

Keeping people from being patients. Reducing the likelihood that people become patients. Preventative programs will create new capabilities to detect and characterize disease risk and promote treatments and behaviors to anticipate threats to Americans’ health, whether those are viral, bacterial, chemical, physical, or psychological.

Resilient Systems (RSO)

Building integrated health care systems. Developing capabilities, business models, and integrations to endure crises such as pandemics, social disruption, and economic instability. Resilient systems need to sustain themselves between crises, from the molecular to the societal, to better achieve outcomes that advance American health and wellbeing.

Scalable Solutions (SSO)

Reaching everyone quickly. Addressing challenges that include geography, distribution, manufacturing, data and information, and economies of scale to create programs that result in impactful, timely, and equitable solutions.

Current Programs and Exploration Topics

Note: Solution summaries and full proposals are due at varying times of day on due dates depending on the program. Be sure to confirm these times on each program’s program page, linked in the table below.

The Research Communications team supports UConn faculty and researchers with the following communications deliverables and services:

• UConn Today Stories
• Press Releases
• Website update (for ovpr.uconn.edu and ovpr.uchc.edu only)
• Social Media Posts or Graphics
• Design Project
• Presentation Decks
• Photography/Videography
• Social Media Training
• Communications Etiquette Training
• Other Special Projects

To request any of the above, please fill out our support request form, and our team will be happy to assist you.

The proposal budget is the financial plan of action that reflects the costs required to perform the proposed work statement. The following information has been prepared to help you develop your budget plan. It is important to demonstrate that the budget proposed is reasonable. 

A budget justification should be submitted to allow for each budget category to be explained relative to the proposed research. The budget justification explains how the estimated costs for the categories were derived and explains the need for the cost. Budgets should be prepared for the entire proposed project.  

While our budget sheet template has been designed to make it easy for an applicant to complete it on their own, we encourage all applicants to consult with their local grant administrators to ensure that budgets are correctly completed.  Faculty in CLAS are asked to reach out to clasgrants@uconn.edu to work with the Grant Management Services (GMS) team to complete the budgets for internal funding program applications.

Download and save the budget sheet template to your computer: FINAL_OVPR_Internal-Funding_Budget-Template_FY26-for-FY25-competitions

 The following categories are generally included in the preparation of a proposal budget: 

• Salary: List all personnel, including the names and roles devoted to the project. 
• Fringe benefits: Automatically computed on the budget sheet template except for ‘other,’ refer to Storrs/Regional Fringe Benefit Rates and UCH Fringe Benefit Rates. 
• Equipment: Tangible, non-expendable, individual property having an anticipated life of one year or more with a unit acquisition cost of $5,000 or greater. For information see equipment definitions on the accounting website. 
• Travel (transportation & Per Diem): Includes any travel necessary to conduct research (in support of specific project aims). For information on travel procedures and processes, see the travel website. 
• Materials & Supplies: Any consumable not falling into the category of equipment, as defined above. 
• Participant Support: Indicate incentives, travel, and other subsistence costs necessary for the project. 
• Animals/Animal Care: Animal costs should reflect the type of animal, the number of animals and the unit cost per animal. Per Diem costs should list the number of days of Per Diem. Please refer to OAC for per diem rates. 
• Contractual Services: Fees and charges for specialized services, such as library access fees, laboratory analysis fees, consultant fees, subject fees, etc. 

General guidelines regarding allowable/unallowable costs that are consistent with other OVPR internal funding opportunities. If you have a budget need that does not fit within these guidelines, please reach out to the OVPR Research Development Internal Funding team at research@uconn.edu to discuss options.  

Allowable costs include:  

• Graduate Research Assistants
  • AY Graduate Research Assistantships (20 hour/week).  Can choose GA level and specify percentage effort on the project.
  • Summer. You may request up to $2000 per student per annum.
• Postdoc or other research assistant/technician salary 
  • Postdoc stipends should follow the NIH NRSA stipend levels. You may enter the base salary of each postdoc and record the postdoc’s effort percentage on this project.
• Student Labor. Undergraduate student labor is paid on an hourly basis, plus fringe benefits. Please refer to the student employment website for levels of experience and compensation. Please enter the total amount you are budgeting for all undergraduate student labor costs
• Summer Fellowships. Storrs/regional campus faculty members on nine-month appointments may receive salary during the summer months. A maximum of $3,000 per award (plus fringe) may be requested for single PI proposals and $5,000 per award (plus fringe) for Multi-PI proposals (limit $3K per PI). The request for summer funds must be carefully justified. For more information, contact the OVPR. 
• Course buyouts   
  • Course buyout may be requested for Storrs/regional campus faculty, but the PI must explain why release time is vital to the project. Faculty requesting funds for course buy-outs must include a statement of support from the department head.
    • ‘The department supports a course buyout for ‘PI name’s’ application for the ‘award name’ program entitled ‘project title,’ under the OVPR’s terms for the inclusion of course buyouts in internal funding awards.’
  • Amount requested cannot exceed the minimum per-credit adjunct rate for the course being replaced.  For more information, contact the OVPR.
  • Limit of one per PI (Principal Investigators) per project
  • Please refer to the payroll department.
• Fringe costs 
• Equipment purchases 
• Travel to conduct research or meet with collaborators (travel approval may be required) 
• Materials and supplies 
• Participant support costs 
• Animal/animal care costs 
• Contractual services (including fee-for-service contracts with partner institutions)  

Unallowable costs include:  

• Subawards to partner institutions 
• Faculty member salaries 
• Clerical or administrative personnel salaries 
• Including personnel whose primary purpose is to explore funding sources and/or prepare grant applications 
• Service/maintenance contracts on equipment 
• Laboratory renovations, or other infrastructure renovations 
• Institutional memberships in professional organizations 
• Computers, laptops, tablets, or other standard office equipment (computers that serve a specialized research function beyond what standard office equipment can provide are allowable) 
• Costs related to attendance/participation in professional meetings to present the results of research
• Travel to explore extramural funding opportunities 
• Costs associated with the publication of results of the research including page charges, purchase of reprints, or journal costs. 

As in previous shutdowns, researchers with active federally sponsored grants and contracts will generally be instructed to continue work unless the project requires significant involvement of federal employees. Investigators may receive instructions from their contracting or program officers; if you receive such information, please notify your SPS award management contact immediately (links below).

Based on past shutdown experience, SPS anticipates the following potential impacts on sponsored programs operations:

Proposals and Application Systems

We expect that some agencies will not be available to process proposals and that others will retain submitted proposals for processing when normal operations resume. If you are preparing an application or progress report for an upcoming submission deadline, please continue to prepare those documents for an on-time submission; however, we encourage you to monitor further updates for specific guidance and the potential for those deadlines to be extended.

• Proposal preparation systems are expected to remain online during a shutdown, though proposals may not be processed by agencies until normal operations resume. Watch for announcements from agencies for extensions of deadline dates. There is a possibility that the Grants.gov Contact Center will remain available; however, it is unclear if all Help Desk systems will remain functional.
• Peer reviews and study sections are not expected to occur, which may impact faculty who serve as reviewers, and may result in potential delays in start dates for those whose proposals are awaiting review if the shutdown is prolonged.
• Agencies will likely not issue new notices, awards, or other actions during the shutdown.

Award Management

In general, researchers with active federally sponsored grants and contracts will be instructed to continue work, but the following exceptions are noted:

• Personnel working in federal labs/facilities, and possibly on cooperative agreements and joint awards may receive notification that they are not permitted to work on associated awards during the shutdown.
• Faculty working at a federal agency on an interagency personnel agreement (IPA) should immediately contact the agency to determine next steps.
• “Stop Work” orders may be implemented for federal contracts, in which case employees can no longer be paid with federal funds allocated to that contract.
• Final reports should be submitted on time if sponsor systems are operational.

Federal personnel WILL NOT be available, though each agency may articulate emergency contact procedures. Federal personnel will not be available for scheduled campus visits or project status meetings.

Agency Contingency Plans:

• Army Corps of Engineers
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Department of Education
• Department of Health and Human Services
• Department of Homeland Security
• Department of Housing and Urban Development
• Department of the Interior
• Department of Justice
• Department of Labor
• Department of State
• Department of Transportation
• Department of the Treasury
• Department of Veterans Affairs
• Department of War (Defense)
• Economic Development Administration
• Environmental Protection Agency
• Food and Drug Administration
• National Aeronautics and Space Administration
• National Institutes of Health
• National Institute of Standards and Technology
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
• National Science Foundation
• Social Security Administration
• United States Department of Agriculture

Additional resources:

• Department of Energy: Lapse Plan Summary Overview
• National Aeronautics and Space Administration: Shutdown furlough guidance
• National Institutes of Health: Information for the Extramural Community During the Lapse of Federal Government Funding (NOT-OD-26-004)
• National Science Foundations: Assistance and Contract-Related Policy and Systems Issues During a Lapse in Appropriations
• OMB: Frequently Asked Questions During  Lapse in Appropriations

SPS will continue to monitor agency-specific communications regarding a potential shutdown and provide detailed updates and specific guidance via this page and email.

Storrs SPS Contacts

UCH SPS Contacts

After awards are made and the project has been completed, the OVPR (Office of the Vice President for Research) would like to evaluate project progress and to learn more about the impact of the work that has been done. Please email research@uconn.edu with a 1–2-page narrative that includes the following:  

• Cover: title, team, funding mechanism, date of award, etc.  
• Summary (brief): of the project aims/goals and the results to date.  
• Project Outcomes (if relevant): publications, grant applications, grant awards, invention disclosures, patents, other “products.”  
• What has this award enabled you to do that you would not otherwise have been able to do without it? 

Submission Deadline: For new registrations, please submit all required materials at least 4 weeks prior to the scheduled meeting date.

SCRO Application Form

SCRO Amendment Form

SCRO Closure Form

SCRO Meetings: The SCRO Committee is scheduled to meet quarterly but can be convened as needed in between scheduled meetings.

For additional resources, please check out the following links:

• International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR)
  • ISSCR Guidelines
• National Academy of Sciences Guidelines for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research
• National Institutes of Health (NIH) Stem Cell Guidelines
  • NIH stem cell information
  • NIH stem cell research policy and FAQs
  • NIH human embryonic stem cell registry
• Connecticut Department of Public Health
  • Connecticut general statute — embryonic stem cell research
• UConn Stem Cell Core
  • UConn Stem Cell Core’s distribution of human pluripotent stem cell lines
• California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM)
• The Jackson Laboratory — stem cells
• The Hinxton Group