Updated
Updated · Fox News · Sep 4
Ohio State Pays $2.1 Million to Settle China Grant Disclosure Case
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Sep 4

Ohio State Pays $2.1 Million to Settle China Grant Disclosure Case

1 articles · Updated · Fox News · Sep 4

Summary

  • $2.1 million will be paid by Ohio State University to resolve Justice Department allegations that it hid researchers’ China ties while seeking and managing NASA and NSF grants.
  • Federal investigators said the university failed from 2012 to 2023 to disclose affiliations and funding linked to Chinese universities and state-run research groups, including one principal investigator’s role in China’s Thousand Talents Program.
  • The DOJ said Ohio State learned in 2019 that researcher C.K. Shum was tied to the NASA-funded work and the talent program, but did not notify NASA and NSF until 2023.
  • Ohio State said it uncovered and self-reported Shum’s affiliations, suspended his principal-investigator privileges, halted spending on the affected awards, repaid grant funds, and that Shum no longer works there.
  • The settlement underscores a broader federal push to force universities receiving taxpayer research money to fully disclose foreign funding and affiliations tied to research security risks.

Insights

Why did a major university wait four years to report a known foreign talent program participant to federal authorities?
Is a multimillion-dollar settlement enough to fix the hidden gaps in America's university research security networks?
Could an unpaid, informal chat with an overseas colleague secretly jeopardize millions in taxpayer-funded scientific research?