According to Science (18 July 2008), a new policy directive from the Department of Defense (DOD) has been promulgated that's meant to resolve a 7-year dispute between the Pentagon and academic institutions over the rules governing unclassified research.
Since the terrorist strikes of 11 September 2001, (federal) research agencies have tried to prevent sensitive technical information from falling into enemy hands by creating a category known as "sensitive but unclassified" research. Academic officials have fought back, pointing to a 1985 directive from the Reagan Administration that exempts fundamental research on university campuses from such restrictions. Last month, the universities won a major victory when DOD Under Secretary John Young instructed agency officials that "classification is the only appropriate mechanism" for restricting publications or participation of foreign nationals in unclassified research projects. "The performance of fundamental research, with rare exceptions, should not be managed in a way that it becomes subject to restrictions on the involvement of foreign researchers or, publication restrictions," the memo says, citing National Security Defense Directive 189, which President Ronald Reagan issued.
The policies of the past seven years appear to have been disruptive.
A survey of more than 20 universities by the Association of American Universities (AAU) and the Council on Government Relations documents 180 instances of troublesome clauses in research contracts from federal agencies, a majority from DOD and the Department of Homeland Security (see graphic). So the new policy is a welcome change, says Jacques Gansler, a former Pentagon administrator who co-chaired the academies' report.
One effect of the old policy has been to make it harder to give research assistantships to foreign graduate students. JAD
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