US orders universities to audit foreign research ties

The United States Department of Defense (DoD) has instructed 30 US research universities to conduct audits and potentially end their collaborations with universities and military training institutions in "foreign entities of concern" by the end of the month. Failure to comply could result in the loss of funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Office of Naval Research, and the Air Force Research Laboratory, potentially shutting down entire academic research groups or departments.

The DoD has not specified the targeted foreign entities, but a list of 130 universities and research institutes in China, Russia, and Iran was published last month, claiming these institutions are improperly profiting from US-funded technologies. The order also extends to organizations linked to rebranded Confucius Institutes, cultural programs connected to US universities since 2004.

The DoD claims the audit process is aimed at safeguarding American taxpayer-funded research from unauthorized technology transfer, intellectual property theft, and adversarial exploitation, allowing the department to anticipate emerging threats and maintain its global leadership in innovation. The order applies to universities such as Harvard, MIT, Cornell, and Johns Hopkins, though the reasons for selecting these institutions are unclear.

The DoD has criticized prominent universities over issues like antisemitism and diversity, equity, and inclusion policies. In response, China's embassy in Washington condemned the order, stating that the US should abandon a Cold War mentality and create an open, fair environment for scientific, educational, and people-to-people exchanges between the two nations.