Research Security Training

NSPM-33 Directive: Agencies should require that, as part of their research security programs, research organizations provide training to relevant personnel on research security threat awareness and identification, including insider threat training where applicable. 

The U.S. National Science Foundation, in partnership with the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Energy, and the Department of Defense, is sharing online research security training for the research community. 

This training provides recipients of federal research funding with information on risks and threats to the global research ecosystem and the knowledge and tools necessary to protect against these risks. Brief descriptions of each of the four modules that comprise this training are listed below. Quick Reference Guides (QRGs) are provided for reference.

Module 1:  What is Research Security? Learn key concepts of research security and how to recognize situations that may indicate undue foreign influence. Understand the regulatory landscape that shapes research security and discover what you can do to safeguard the core values that underpin U.S. academic research.
Module 1 QRG on What is Research Security

Module 2:  Disclosure. Learn about federal funding agency disclosure requirements, including types of information that must be disclosed, how that information is used, and why such disclosures are fundamental to safeguarding the U.S. research enterprise from foreign government interference and exploitation.
Module 2 QRG on Disclosure

Module 3:  Manage and Mitigate Risk. Learn to identify types of international collaborative research and professional activities, associated potential risks, and strategies and best practices for managing and mitigating such risks. Learner experience will be customized based on their role as either a researcher or administrator.
Module 3 QRG on Manage and Mitigate Risk

Module 4:  International Collaboration. Learn about the role of principled international collaboration in U.S. science, innovation, and economic competitiveness. Discover how to balance principled international collaboration with research security concerns and foster an open, welcoming research environment that fulfills research security needs. 
Module 4 QRG on International Collaboration

UMB will offer this research security training to comply with the Research Security Program requirements of NSPM-33. ORD will partner with CITS and the Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning (FCTL) for integration into UMB's learning management system for organizational documentation and reporting purposes. ORD will consider adding UMB-specific information as appropriate.