Stanford's Openness in Research Policy expresses our institutional commitment to "the principle of freedom of access by all interested persons to the underlying data, to the processes, and to the final results of research" (reinforced in Section 3 of the Faculty Policy on Conflict of Commitment and Interest). Export controls, conversely, may impose access, dissemination, and participation restrictions on information and tangible items; "exports" can include both

• the shipment of materials to another country and/or
• the disclosure or controlled information to foreign nationals who are here.

This memo is a reminder about our Openness policy, and the need to document any transactions where disclosure of information is restricted.

Stanford conducts only fundamental research intended for public domain distribution; that is, we perform basic and applied research in science and engineering that is not subject to access, dissemination, or participation restrictions. Federal export controls generally do not apply to the conduct, products, or results of fundamental research. Consequently, the need for recordkeeping related to export controls is usually limited to:

• actual shipments outside the U.S. and
• transactions involving export-controlled information provided to Stanford researchers by third parties, such as vendors, subcontractors, or government collaborators.

With regard to the latter, Stanford must document its reliance on an exemption or exception (discussed below).

EXPORTS AND EXEMPTIONS

1. Shipments abroad
   
   A researcher may occasionally be required to obtain an export license from the relevant federal agency in order to ship tangible items outside the borders of the United States. Because such shipments tend to be directly related to an openly-conducted collaboration in support of fundamental research, they are likely to qualify for "No License Required" treatment under Export Administration Regulations (EAR 99). Whether a license is required or not will depend on the researcher's description of the item, its intended end-use and its end-user. For example, an electron microscope, for use in fundamental research involving some special microstructure determination, being sent to a collaborator in Italy who will insert a component and return the microscope to Stanford, is likely to be granted an NLR exception.
   
   Stanford's export expediter, American Overseas, Inc., handles these transactions. Records are also stored both locally and centrally on campus. The P.I., the Project Manager, or another person to whom this responsibility is delegated keeps copies of the description of the item and its use, along with any confirming American Overseas documents, with the project files. In addition, a copy of all export documentation must be provided to my office (see Demonstrating compliance below).
   
   
2. Disclosures of export-controlled information to foreign nationals
   
   Even though the conduct, products, and results of fundamental research may be openly shared with foreign nationals in the United States, it may be necessary for Stanford researchers to accept export-controlled information or materials from a third party. For example, a vendor or research partner may have to provide the specifications for heat and vibration tolerances on a piece of hardware. These data are not "fundamental research" as defined by the applicable regulations, and such a disclosure would therefore carry with it the full panoply of export control requirements. That is, the information must be identified by the disclosing party as controlled, and a license or other formal authorization would be required before certain foreign nationals, either in the U.S. or abroad, could have access, if indeed any further disclosure would be permitted at all. The disclosing party may decide to obtain a license for the disclosure to a foreign national, or the discloser may choose to share the information only with an eligible "U.S. person" under a Non-Disclosure Agreement prohibiting any further disclosure (or "re-export").
   
   To the extent that this third-party information is substantially remote from the intellectually significant portion of the research, such that:
   1. no other researchers on the same project would be disadvantaged by the lack of access to the information and
   2. the right to publish is not restricted,
   a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) between the discloser and the University recipient will not violate Stanford's Openness in Research Policy.
   
   The recipient of this information must be a "U.S. person" (citizen or permanent resident alien) or someone eligible to receive the information under an exemption. As with shipping documents, NDAs and reliance on available exemptions must also be documented and a record kept in departmental project files. As explained in the section below, I am also asking for a copy of all such documentation to be provided to my office.
   
   Examples of justification of the exemptions most often relied upon can be found at http://exp.stanford.edu/forms.html. Sample memos can be downloaded from this site and modified as appropriate.
   
   

DEMONSTRATING COMPLIANCE

Stanford is subject to periodic audits with regard to all its recordkeeping requirements, and those related to export controls are no exception. In fact, the U.S. Congress has mandated that the Inspectors General of the Departments of Commerce, State, Homeland Security, Treasury, Defense, and Energy undertake rolling audits related to export controls at universities and research facilities for the next 7 years. Stanford recently underwent such an audit by the General Accounting Office and the Commerce Department, and was found to be in compliance with all applicable regulations.

However, in order to enhance our ability to respond efficiently to a "data call" or to further audits, Stanford is establishing a central repository for all export control records. These records need to be kept in the research project files of Departments and Schools, with a copy provided to the designated individual in my office.

I have designated Steve Eisner to be the Point of Contact for the copies of these records. Starting September 1, 2004, copies of the documents described in the previous sections (justification for shipment abroad under EAR99, "No License Required," copies of NDAs, and copies of justifications for reliance on specific exemptions) should be sent to
       Steve Eisner, Export Control Officer
       Office of the Dean of Research
       McCullough Building, MC 4000
       Stanford University.

You can find several templates documenting different export situations, as well as other information resources, on the web at http://exp.stanford.edu/forms.html.

Questions about the applicability of export control regulations to a particular set of facts should continue to be directed to Steve Eisner in the Office of Dean of Research, (650) 724-7072, steve.eisner@stanford.edu.