Universities reject lucrative research opportunities due to restrictions placed by government
Lisa M. Krieger - San Jose Mercury NewsIssue date: 7/31/08 Section: News
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A major new study of 20 top schools found 180 instances of "troublesome clauses" attached by the federal government to research contracts - up from 138 in 2004. The survey, conducted by two Washington D.C.-based groups, Association of American Universities and Council on Governmental Relations, concluded that the vast majority of disputes involve the U.S. Department of Defense or defense contractors.
The University of California-Berkeley reported 12 cases in which restrictions led to impasses in research grant negotiations; Stanford University reported three. University officials would not elaborate on how many of those cases were resolved - or how much money the schools lost by passing up grants.
Federally funded research is critical to UC-Berkeley and Stanford. But so is their ability to share discoveries with the vast scientific community in classrooms, conferences and journals.
"We have principles of academic freedom," said Carol Mimura, UC-Berkeley's assistant vice chancellor for intellectual property and research. "And we can never violate those principles."
In an effort to safeguard research data from potential terrorists, the Department of Defense and other federal agencies increasingly tie strings onto their research contracts, despite a longstanding presidential order that such findings be open and public.
Sometimes they want the right to review, edit or prevent publication of research discoveries. In other instances, they seek to prevent foreign students from conducting research.
Universities are exempt from most federal controls on their work because they conduct what the government calls "fundamental research" - work that is taught in open classrooms, published in journals and shared openly at scientific conferences. A 1985 order issued by former President Ronald Reagan stated that fundamental research should generally not be classified.
But federal authorities say they are concerned that major U.S. research institutions, including Stanford and UC-Berkeley, unwittingly grant foreign researchers unauthorized access to unclassified, but sensitive, technologies.
"Our overriding focus is to prevent exports that are contrary to our security and foreign policy interests," explained acting undersecretary for Industry and Security of the Department of Commerce Peter Lichtenbaum in a 2005 speech.
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