42 U.S.C. § 19031 — Office of Research Security and Policy

The Director^* must maintain a Research Security and Policy office within the Office of the Director with at least four full-time-equivalent positions. These positions are in addition to the Chief of Research Security established under section 19032 of this title. The office must coordinate all research-security policy issues across the Foundation, including by—

(1) consulting and coordinating, as appropriate, with the Foundation Office of Inspector General, other Federal research agencies, intelligence and law-enforcement agencies, and the National Science and Technology Council, under the authority provided by section 1746 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (Public Law 116–92; 42 U.S.C. 6601 note), to identify and address possible security risks that threaten research integrity and other risks to the research enterprise, and to develop research-security policy and best practices^* while taking into account the policy guidelines to be issued by the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy under section 19231 of this title;

(2) serving as a Foundation resource for all issues related to the security and integrity of Foundation-supported research;

(3) conducting outreach and education for recipients about research policies and possible security risks, and about policies and activities to protect intellectual property and information about critical technologies relevant to national security, consistent with the controls relevant to the grant or award;

(4) educating Foundation program managers and other directorate staff about evaluating Foundation awards and recipients for possible security risks;

(5) communicating reporting and disclosure requirements to recipients and funding applicants;

(6) performing risk assessments, consulting with other Federal agencies as appropriate, of Foundation proposals and awards, using analytical tools to assess failures to disclose required information;

(7) establishing policies and procedures for identifying, communicating, and addressing security risks that threaten the integrity of Foundation-supported research and development, working with other Federal agencies as appropriate to ensure compliance with National Security Presidential Memorandum–33, concerning stronger protections for United States Government-supported research and development against foreign-government interference and exploitation, or a successor policy document; and

(8) in accordance with relevant agency policies, conducting or facilitating due diligence on applications for Foundation research and development awards before making those awards.