Malign Foreign Talent Recruitment Program Certification 

As of June 7, 2025, the National Science Foundation (NSF) ‘in accordance with the NSF Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG) Chapter II.D.1.e(ii)’ is requiring that principal investigators (PI’s) and co-Principal Investigators (co-PIs) certify that they are not party to a Malign Foreign Talent Recruitment Program (MFTRP) on an annual basis. The research community is reminded that ‘individuals who are currently a party to a MFTRP are not eligible to serve as senior/key personnel on any NSF proposal or on any NSF award made on or after May 20, 2024’, and UIC prohibits participation in MFTRPs. Please visit Research.gov to complete the required MFTRP certification. There is no organizational certificate requirement.

Responsible Conduct of Research

Next month’s Responsible of Conduct of Research (RCR) Workshop is scheduled for Monday, July 14, 2025, from 11:30am – 12:30pm in 1000 SEO (Science and Engineering Offices, 10th floor) located at 851 South Morgan Street on the East Campus. Dr. Justin (JT) Mohr, Associate Professor and Research Integrity Officer, will be presenting on ‘Research Data: Acquisition, Handling and Record Keeping Best Practices“. A light lunch will be provided, please be sure to register and cancel your registration if you are unable to attend.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is seeking input and feedback on ‘effective strategies for mitigating controlled-access human genomic data leakage when developing and sharing generative AI tools and applications’. Responses and comments will be accepted through July 16, 2025 at the following link: https://osp.od.nih.gov/comment-form-responsibly-developing-and-sharing-generative-artificial-intelligence-tools-using-nih-controlled-access-data/ 

Additionally, the ‘NIH is developing an institute-wide AI strategy that charts a progression from today’s data-science-driven analytics through semi-autonomous AI agents to fully autonomous, self-documenting biomedical AI beings’. NIH requests information. Please submit your response by July 15, 2025 to ai-rfi@nih.gov with the Subject Line: RFI Response – NIH AI Strategy.

Export Controls

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued Syria General License (GL) 25 on May 23, 2025, authorizing transactions otherwise prohibited by the Syrian Sanctions Regulations. This license authorizes a broad range of activities previously prohibited under the Syria Sanctions Regulations (31 C.F.R. part 542), marking a departure from the comprehensive restrictions on that country. Please contact the Export Controls Director if you would like to interact with Syrian institutions for academic collaboration or education activities.