This message has been distributed to all UT faculty members, all UT employees with Principal Investigator (PI) status, as well as UT graduate students and postdocs. Please share this with your teams and departments, if applicable.
Dear PI Colleagues,
We want to make you aware of an ongoing and evolving national situation that may affect some members of our research community. The FBI notified us last week that, due to the recent closure of the Chinese Consulate in Houston, it will be contacting UT researchers about the role of the Consulate and efforts by the Chinese government to illegally procure research from American universities, including coronavirus vaccine research.
We do not know whom the FBI intends to contact or what they plan to discuss, nor have we shared anyone’s information or details about ongoing research with FBI agents. It’s not unusual for federal law enforcement officers to ask to speak with researchers if deemed necessary to support criminal or national security investigations.
If you have questions about sharing the details of your work with anyone (especially details related to students or confidential materials), please contact Jeff Graves, associate vice president for Legal Affairs. You can also bring any concerns you may have to your dean or associate dean for research. Additionally, if you receive a phishing attempt or any other suspicious or unsolicited email from a foreign company or entity, please contact the Information Security Office at security@utexas.edu.
As we’ve said before, our international scholars are a vital part of our research community. You enrich our environment and are critical to our teams’ success, and we value your contributions. We realize that this news is coming during an already difficult time, so we encourage you to reach out to your supervisors or Texas Global and let us know how we can continue to support you.
Sincerely,
Dan Jaffe Interim Executive Vice President and Provost
Alison R. Preston Interim Vice President for Research
This communication is from Principal Investigators – Official. View this email online.
