It is the policy of The University of Texas at San Antonio that instruction, research, and services will be accomplished openly and without prohibitions on the publication and dissemination of the results of academic and research activities.
Federal regulations promulgated and enforced by the Department of Commerce, Export Administration Regulations (EAR), and the Department of State, International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), prohibit the unlicensed export of specific technologies for reasons of national security or protection of trade. If University research involves such specified technologies, the EAR and/or ITAR may require the University to obtain prior approval from State or Commerce before allowing foreign nationals to participate in the research, partnering with a foreign company and/or sharing research – verbally or in writing – with persons who are not United States citizens or permanent resident aliens.
Export control regulations have the potential to harm the quality of University research, undermine publication rights, and prohibit international collaboration if the dissemination of University research is not placed in the public domain and does not qualify for the fundamental research exclusion. The consequences of violating these regulations can be quite severe, ranging from loss of research contracts to monetary penalties to jail time for the individual violating these regulations.
The Office of Sponsored Project Administration and Principal Investigator should conduct a thorough review of research projects and contract provisions to determine whether and, if so how, a particular research project is impacted by export control regulations.
Principal Investigators/Researchers have the following responsibilities:
- prior to commencing any research, to review and cooperate with the Office of Sponsored Project Administration, Office of Contracts and Industry Agreements and/or Office of Research Integrity to determine whether their research is impacted by the controls or requirements contained within export regulations, and
- to re-evaluate that determination before changing the scope or adding new staff to the project to determine if such changes alter the initial determination; and
- to make export determinations far enough in advance to obtain an authorization, should one be required.
Principal Investigators, faculty, and staff should not automatically assume that the fundamental research exclusion, public domain exclusion and/or educational exclusion apply to their project. The Office of Research Integrity will assist researchers in assessing the application of such regulations, but primary compliance responsibility rests with the researcher.
You can use the Sponsored Research Export Control Checklist (PDF) to determine whether any aspect of your sponsored research project activities will be subject to export control regulations. The checklist is intended to provide you with a guide for common issues and where to go for assistance, if needed.
You can also review the UTSA Export Control Compliance Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) (PDF) for additional information.
Please feel free to contact the Office of Research Integrity if you need further assistance or additional information.
