Research security protects the integrity, confidentiality, and value of academic work. Cutting-edge university research carries risks for intellectual property theft, cyberattacks, and foreign interference. Strong research security helps safeguard sensitive data, maintain public trust, facilitates compliance with legal and funding requirements, and preserves the competitive edge of both the institution and the broader scientific research enterprise.

Research Security Training

Annual research security training is mandated for individuals involved in federally funded research by U.S. federal regulations such as the CHIPS and Science Act and National Security Presidential Memorandum 33 (NSPM-33). These policies are are designed to safeguard the integrity of the U.S. research enterprise against foreign government interference and exploitation.

In response, Lehigh is implementing a unified training requirement for all individuals named as personnel on federal funding proposals for the following agencies: NIH, NSF, DOE or USDA. Effective October 1, 2025, this research security training must have been completed by all named individuals within the 12 months prior to proposal submission. Training must be updated on an annual basis.

Research Security training is available through the CITI platform. These training modules were developed by the NSF SECURE Center and are a condensed and consolidated version of four federal research security training modules developed via a cooperative agreement funded by the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, Department of Defense, and Department of Energy. The training addresses the requirements for the disclosure of other support to ensure Senior/Key Personnel fully understand their responsibility to disclose all resources made available to the researcher in support of and/or related to all of their research endeavors, regardless of whether or not they have monetary value and regardless of whether they are based at the institution the researcher identifies for the current grant.

The training focuses on the following four critical questions:

  • What is research security and why is it an important issue?
  • What is a disclosure policy and how will it be used?
  • What actions can federally funded research recipients take to manage and mitigate risk?
  • Is international collaboration encouraged?

This research security training is required by the U.S. Federal government and benefits both individual researchers and the institution by promoting responsible research practices that protect the U.S research enterprise.

Instructions on how to access the Research Security training in CITI are available here.

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Frequently Asked Questions

This is not a new University policy, but a direct response to a federal mandate from the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022. To ensure Lehigh remains eligible for federal funding, we must comply with this new law.

All named Lehigh personnel on federal funding proposals being submitted on or after October 1, 2025 for the following agencies: NIH, NSF, DOE or USDA.

All individuals added to a grant or award for one of these agencies must complete the training via CITI within 30 days of being added. 

The training is required annually. Your completion is valid for 12 months. You will receive email reminders before your training expires.

If an equivalent Research Security training was completed recently, either via CITI or another platform, Lehigh will accept completion certificates for these trainings as evidence of initial training. The completion certificate must list the individual's name and the date of completion. 

Annual refresher training will still be required for all Lehigh personnel, regardless of the method of the original training.

If you have completed the Research Security training course in CITI, a record of your completion has been generated in the system. You do not need to submit a copy of your completion certificate to anyone. You should save a copy for your records, and be prepared to provide this copy upon request. 

Yes. On September 29, we announced that in order to comply with NIH requirements, all personnel on NIH proposals or RPPRs must review Lehigh's policy on NIH Other Support Training and complete a Docusign form to document their review. The link to complete the Docusign form is also embedded at the top of the policy. Please contact your CGS if you have any questions.