Support and FAQs

If you have specific questions, contact the appropriate Working Group member below; general questions can be directed to InternationalSupportServices@umassmed.edu.

UMass Chan continues to encourage and support foreign collaborations.  However, consistent with federal agency guidance you should provide information to your research sponsors about all foreign collaborations and ensure that all foreign research visitors/scholars are duly vetted by Immigration Services to confirm that there are no restrictions upon hosting such visitors.  That said, there remains considerable concern with foreign talent programs. If you are involved in or are invited to participate in such a program, you should obtain guidance from OSP as well as from your research sponsors.

We do not have specific guidance from all sponsors on this topic, however, per NIH guidelines, this person’s work on the project should be documented as follows:

• As “Other Support” because the externally funded individual is a “resource available in direct support of [your] research endeavors.” The NIH recently clarified that “all research resources including, but not limited to, foreign financial support, research or laboratory personnel, lab space, scientific materials, … must be reported.”
• As a “Participant” in the progress report if the person worked on a project for more than a month in any given year. Additionally, the person’s “primary affiliation” is determined by where the work was done for the project: if the individual is affiliated with a foreign organization but worked on the award solely in the U.S., the “primary affiliation” is not foreign; if work was performed while outside of the U.S., the primary affiliation should be noted as foreign.
• As a “Foreign Component” if the individual performed part of the work while in your UMass Chan lab, but also made a significant contribution to the project a from his/her home institution, or any other foreign location (e.g. collecting data at a foreign site, running samples on instrumentation there, and/or will be a co-author on publications arising from the grant).

Once COVID-19 travel restrictions are lifted you are not required to disclose personal international travel.  Note, however, that if you travel internationally with your work laptop or other UMass Chan device, you should be mindful of any sensitive data that the device may contain and take steps to ensure the security of those data.  Please refer to the above section on data/device security.

The federal government maintains lists of entities that are higher risk, information that changes frequently. UMass uses software called Visual Compliance to screen proposed collaborators against these lists, including sponsors of research, proposed vendors or subcontractors, and others. One well-publicized example of a company that has received federal government attention is Huawei, which the federal government recently placed on a restricted list. Please contact International Support Services if you have any questions about engaging with foreign entities.

In general, one-time travel to present at a conference would not require disclosure to sponsors.  If, however, that travel establishes a relationship with a foreign university, government, or other entity (e.g., results in an honorary or visiting appointment or an offer to set up laboratory space at that institution), then that may need to be disclosed, depending on the sponsor and their specific guidelines.

Conference travel must be registered in the Travel Registry and will be reviewed by International Support Services to evaluate security and compliance risks.