Stanford University has agreed to pay $1.9 million to resolve allegations of violating the False Claims Act. The accusations stemmed from submitting proposals for federal research grants without revealing additional support that faculty members received from foreign sources, as per the U.S. Department of Justice.
Funding for Stanford between 2015 and 2020 originated from five federal agencies: the Army, Navy and Air Force Departments, NASA, and the NSF. All agencies required applicants to disclose any current/pending support the institution and investigators received around the grant proposals, such as foreign sources to fund, researchers, and projects.
The settlement grew from 16 grant proposals, where Stanford failed to disclose foreign funding of 11 principal investigators and co-investigators. Additional allegations included Stanford withholding information about a professor's foreign funding from a public university and a foreign government's national science foundation.
To implement best practices and address these issues, Stanford has agreed to cooperate with the NSF Office of the Chief of Research Security Strategy and Policy, as per the settlement. This reflects a larger shift towards transparency in U.S. academia and the emphasis on complete disclosure during grant application.
"Universities and their researchers must disclose all current and pending support, including any foreign support, in federal research grant applications… the department will continue to ensure that applicants submit complete and truthful disclosures," stated Brian M. Boynton, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General and head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division.
