Research Security Committees

The Senior Advisory Group on Research Risk and Policy is a leadership group established by the Executive Vice President for Research in 2019 to advise the President or the President’s senior leadership on whether the University should pursue research projects or other research or service-related activities that potentially expose the University to risks that are qualitatively different from those addressed by the University’s existing portfolio of oversight measures. Such projects could include, for example, those that involve “foreign countries of concern” identified by the U.S. government or involve a potentially controversial funding source.

The guiding principle of the Advisory Group and the University is to make every attempt to resolve potential risks in a manner that enables research to proceed at the University. However, if the Advisory Group determines that the potential risks cannot be managed and outweigh the potential benefits of conducting the research, then the research or service project should not proceed at the University.

The risks the Advisory Group should consider include the following:

• U.S. national security risk: the risk that Columbia discoveries and inventions created in the engagement will be used against the national security interests of the United States, or that foreign participants will gain access to unrelated Columbia knowledge and technology that could be used against U.S. national security interests.
• Political, civil, and human rights risk: the risk that research outcomes will be used in ways that would infringe on political, human, or civil rights in a foreign country, or that the engagement will indirectly legitimize violations of political, human, or civil rights in that country.
• U.S. economic competitiveness risk: the risk that the collaboration will significantly benefit the efforts of a foreign government to strengthen the competitiveness of business entities in that country relative to their American business rivals, or that it could otherwise benefit a foreign government in a way that might significantly harm the competitiveness of American firms, or that a foreign entity, as a result of the engagement, could benefit from unpublished know-how developed during previous U.S. government-funded research.
• The risk to the Columbia community of providing support for actions that run counter to Columbia’s core values, or that are not aligned with its academic mission, or that might lead to discrimination between members of our community, or that would permit undue external influence over the direction of Columbia research or education, or that would tarnish Columbia’s reputation.
• Risks related to intellectual property, export control compliance, data security and access, the risks to Columbia of not accepting an engagement, the potential risks to Columbia’s reputation that are not included in any of the previous categories, and consideration of whether there are benefits to Columbia that would be difficult to obtain otherwise.

If the primary concerns surrounding the pursuit of a particular project are regulatory in nature, then the matter should be reviewed by the appropriate regulatory body and not by the Advisory Group. The Advisory Group does not supersede existing regulatory review bodies at the University.

The Advisory Group may consult with faculty and may convene ad hoc faculty committees, with appropriate expertise, representing a variety of viewpoints, to make policy recommendations on particular issues. It coordinates closely with other University committees as needed.   

The Advisory Group includes the Executive Vice President for Research, the Executive Vice President for Communications and Government Affairs, the Senior Vice Dean for Research at CUIMC, and the University’s Senior Executive Vice President. Any member or their designee may identify a project that should be reviewed by the Group. Additionally, departments, schools, centers and institutes, and their constituents (including students) also may identify projects that should be reviewed by the Group. Such projects should be communicated by the appropriate dean’s office representative to the Office of Research Compliance and Training.

For more information about the Senior Advisory Group on Research Risk and Policy, please contact Naomi Schrag, Vice President for Research Compliance, Training and Policy, [email protected].