June 29, 2023
Dear Colleagues:
Since World War II, the U.S. has been a global leader in science and technology (S&T) research and innovation. The U.S. S&T research model—and that of like-minded allies and partners—emphasizes benefits that accrue to all in an open, transparent research ecosystem. This is possible because most participants share a commitment to the fundamental principles and values essential to the conduct of research. Unfortunately, these principles and values are not shared by some foreign governments which choose to interfere with or inappropriately benefit from U.S. S&T research. These governments do so by using a systems-wide approach to obtain pre-publication data and results, methods and knowhow, intellectual property, and talent. Such violations threaten the security of the U.S. S&T research ecosystem.
To more fully understand the nature, scope, challenges, and potential of research security across all research, particularly in the context of National Security Presidential Memorandum-33 (NSPM-33) and associated supporting documents, NSF is developing a new Research on Research Security Program (RRSP). With this Dear Colleague Letter (DCL), NSF is seeking proposals for a workshop1 that will bring together researchers who conduct or have an interest in conducting research in this domain, with the intent of raising awareness of the RRSP and developing a community of practice that includes institutions of higher education, for-profit organizations, governmental entities, and non-profit organizations to conduct this highly interdisciplinary research.
Proposals submitted in response to this DCL will be accepted until September 25, 2023 (5 p.m. submitter’s local time). The award is expected to be made by December 2023, with conference findings synthesized by June 2024.