In January 2021, the Trump administration issued National Security Presidential Memorandum 33 (NSPM-33), a directive for federal funding agencies to improve research security by strengthening and standardizing disclosure requirements for personnel involved in federally sponsored research and to establish policies to appropriately identify and mitigate research security risks. The Biden administration subsequently endorsed this directive.
In January 2022, the White House’s National Science and Technology Council published additional Implementation Guidance (PDF) with requirements for both federal agencies and research institutions themselves. Among these requirements, research institutions receiving $50 million or more in federal funding must establish and maintain a research security program to address specific requirements related to:
In July 2024, the White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) issued a memo for the heads of federal research agencies, further clarifying baseline standards for what each institution's research security program must include. These "Guidelines for Research Security Programs at Covered Institutions (PDF)" provide additional programmatic details and implementation timelines for both federal agencies and institutions themselves. As federal agencies release additional policies in response to NSPM-33, the University of Oklahoma is actively working toward compliance with these standards.
