Updates on Federal Executive Orders and Research Activities
The Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation (OVPRI) continues to monitor the 2025 presidential administration transition. Those updates are posted on a separate page. Click the resources for researchers link below.
This page is updated monthly to include critical updates associated with federal funding.
Institutional Updates
Required International Shipment Form
Departments shipping materials internationally (excluding immigration, marketing, or admissions materials and published research materials such as journal articles) must submit an International Shipment Form before sending through UO Mail Services or external carriers, such as US Postal Service, UPS, FedEx, or DHL. If unsure about whether to submit the form, go ahead and submit it or email exportcontrols@uoregon.edu for guidance.
Forms are reviewed within one business day, but additional compliance steps may be required based on shipment contents. Unauthorized shipment of export-controlled items may lead to significant federal civil or criminal penalties, including but not limited to temporary prohibitions on international transactions. Departments are responsible for ensuring they have proper approvals.
Learn more on the export controls website or submit an International Shipment Form.
Reporting Requirements for Contracts and Gifts from Foreign Source
The UO is required to report incoming contracts with, and gifts received from, foreign persons and entities to the US Department of Education and the National Science Foundation.If your department receives:
- Contracts for incoming funds that are not routed through Sponsored Projects Services or Purchasing and Contracting Services, or
- Gifts from foreign donors that do not come through UO Foundation or Advancement,
please email foreigngiftreports@uoregon.edu to be added to our biannual reporting requests.
Most transactions only require basic information for internal reporting. However, full reporting is required if the UO, as a whole, receives $250,000 or more from the same foreign source or $50,000 or more from a source located in a country of concern.
Your cooperation helps ensure the UO remains compliant with federal requirements.
Changes to Quick Reference Card
The Quick Reference Card (QRC) is now the Quick Reference Page. You will still be able to print the page, and now you can also bookmark it to ensure you are always referencing the most up-to-date document.
Required Training Matrix Available
To help the research community stay apprised of required training, OVPRI has released a required training matrix. The matrix lists who must take a specific required training, how frequently, where to access the training, how long it will take to complete the training, and a link to the federal requirement that requires the training. We hope this resource will help PIs, departmental grant administrators (DGAs), and others identify and complete training requirements.
Proposal Development Support
Faculty seeking support for how to prepare competitive proposals (or proposal components) under current federal executive orders (EOs) and agency review processes are encouraged to meet with Research Development Services for support. Please email rds@uoregon.edu to request assistance.
Foreign Travel Security Training Encouraged and May Soon be Mandatory
Foreign Travel Security Training is highly encouraged—and may soon become mandatory—for any principal investigator, co-principal investigator, project director, co-project director, senior/key personnel, or any other position specified in a funding opportunity announcement who travels internationally regardless of whether the travel will be charged to a sponsored award.
PIs, co-PIs, and senior/key personnel with active grant awards who have traveled internationally in the previous three years will receive an email with instructions to complete the training.
Training must be complete prior to travel and is valid for six years.
The UO has released its Foreign Travel Security Training, which is available through MyTrack Learning. The training will take approximately one hour to complete. A Duck ID is required to complete the training. More information about the Foreign Travel Security Training can be found on the export control website.
Export Control Training Encouraged and May Soon be Mandatory
Export Control Training is highly encouraged—and may soon become mandatory—for any principal investigator, co-principal investigator, project director, co-project director, senior/key personnel, or any other position specified in a funding opportunity announcement working with export-controlled technologies.
SPS and the Export Control Office will identify PIs, co-PIs, and senior/key personnel who need to complete the training.
The UO will be using the export control module in CITI to satisfy the training requirement. A Duck ID is required to complete the training. Details about how to access the training can be found on the export control website.
Customizable International Travel Checklist Available
In partnership with the Information Security Office, Safety and Risk Services, Business Affairs Travel Office, and Sponsored Project Services, the Export Control Office has launched a customized international travel checklist. The checklist provides recommended and required steps for safety, security, and compliance while traveling internationally, and the checklist is customized by destination. The checklist can also be found on the Export Control Office’s international travel webpage.
Federal Guidance and Critical Sponsor Updates
Drones Purchased with or used in Federally Sponsored Research
Effective December 22, 2025, drones manufactured by companies located in a foreign country of concern are prohibited from being purchased with or used in federally sponsored research. This prohibition includes drones made by DJI or Autel, among others, and the prohibition stems from national security concerns of foreign adversaries gaining access to sensitive data or infrastructure. If your research team currently has any drones manufactured by a company in a foreign country of concern (such as DJI or Autel) or if your research team is unsure about the manufacturer's country of origin, please contact exportcontrols@uoregon.edu for further guidance.
Required Congruence Among Biosketch, Current/Pending Support Document, and Conflict of Interest Disclosure
Federal sponsors have indicated an expectation that documents a researcher submits to a sponsor, like a biographical sketch and a current/pending support document, should match the documents submitted to the institution’s Conflict of Interest Office.
Sponsored Projects Services (SPS) and the Conflict of Interest (COI) Office are working together to help researchers maintain congruence among these documents.
Effective January 2025, researchers may receive correspondence from the COI Office with a request to update their COI disclosure in the Research Administration Portal or to update a biographical sketch or current/pending support document submitted to a sponsor.
National Science Foundation (NSF)
Research Security Training Soon to be Required for PIs, Co-PIs, and Senior/Key Personnel
NSF released information on how it plans to implement Research Security Training. Comments on the proposed changes are open through February 2025, and we expect the changes to be implemented shortly thereafter.
Among the potential changes, Research Security Training will be required of any principal investigator, co-principal investigator, project director, co-project director, and senior/key personnel who are applying for or receiving funding from NSF. Training must be completed within one year of proposal submission.
Researchers will need to certify their completion of Research Security Training and affirm that they are not party to a malign foreign talent recruitment program. The UO will also certify researchers’ completion of the required training prior to proposal submission. Other federal agencies, including the National Institutes of Health, are expected to release information on their requirements for implementing required Research Security Training. The Department of Energy released its requirements in October.
The UO has released its Research Security Training, which is available through MyTrack Learning. The training will take approximately one-and-a-half hours to complete. A Duck ID is required to complete the training. More information about the Research Security Training can be found on the export control website.
The offices of Research Integrity and Sponsored Project Services will ensure that researchers have adequate time to complete the training prior to the effective date.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
2024 updates to the Final Rule
The Office of Research Integrity (ORI) issued the 2024 Final Rule to update the 2005 Public Health Service (PHS) Policies on Research Misconduct. The 2024 updates to the Final Rule establish requirements for addressing research misconduct; the application date for the final rule is January 1, 2026. UO policy changes to comply with the new final rule will be communicated to the research community once available. For more information, see the ORI announcement or contact Sheryl Johnson, the UO’s research integrity officer at sherylj@uoregon.edu.
Department of Energy (DOE)
Department of Energy Researchers Must Take Research Security Training
Effective May 1, 2025, Research Security Training will be required for principal investigators (PIs), co-principal investigators, project directors, co-project directors, senior/key personnel, or any other position specified in a funding opportunity announcement who submit proposals to the US Department of Energy.
The training must be completed prior to submitting a proposal and must be completed annually thereafter. The Research Security Training is available in MyTrack Learning. It takes approximately 1.5 hours to complete and requires a DuckID to log in. More details can be found on the export controls webpage.
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