US university to pay US$2.1 million settlement over claims it didn’t disclose China ties

Justice Department alleged Ohio State failed to reveal employees’ links to China in applications for federal grant funding

A prominent American university has agreed to pay a US$2.1 million settlement to resolve allegations that it failed to disclose employees’ ties to China when applying for federal grant funding, the Department of Justice announced on Monday.

Both Nasa and the NSF required the public university to disclose “foreign government support received by any principal investigator (PI) or co-PI on the grant application”, according to a Department of Justice press release.

The NSF was established by Congress in 1950 and funds scientific research through grants, while Nasa oversees the US space programme, conducting research in areas including aeronautics and space exploration.

The US$2.1 million settlement will specifically resolve allegations that, since 2014, annual faculty activity reports submitted to OSU identified affiliations with Chinese universities and state-run research organisations, but the university did not disclose this information to Nasa or the NSF.

In addition, the university learned in 2019 that a principal investigator on Nasa grants was a participant in the Thousand Talents Programme, which the department said was established by the Chinese government “to recruit individuals with knowledge or access to foreign technology intellectual property”.