Abstract

The US government expects an extraordinary level of transparency, openness, and accountability by recipients of US government research funds -- including European institutions that are recipients or subrecipients of US grant funds. Institutions have been audited and scrutinized heavily in recent years. Current and pending US legislation also promotes intensive accountability by recipients of US federal funds. This session centers on both classic and emerging areas of compliance exposure for European institutions participating in US government-funded scientific research collaborations.

We will start the session with a common understanding of terminology, including the types of US government-funded programs that fund research in Europe. We will then proceed to review real-life calamities that both European and US institutions have encountered relative to compliance with the terms and conditions of US research awards, as well as the government’s focus on international activity. Finally, we will focus on lessons learned by institutions to build awareness and strategy to navigate the US-government’s funding terms and the expectations of US research partners. The key take away message for the audience is the following: compliance with US government policies and procedures have challenged some of the most prominent research institutions in the world, and there is much to learn from the pitfalls and pratfalls of peers to help improve protocols in this area.

The audience will benefit from a US perspective, particularly as US-European scientific collaborations have matured over time. This is an evolving area, and US sponsoring agencies have revamped and updated expectations and guidance over the past year. Accordingly, institutions must devote resources to keeping up with developments and improving their overall understanding of key financial and scientific elements of US government grants and contracts. We aim to include discussion time for the audience to articulate best practices and approaches to dealing with US government requirements.