Federally Funded Research:

Controlling Inappropriate Access to Research Results

T-RCED-93-19: Published: Mar 11, 1993. Publicly Released: Mar 11, 1993.

Additional Materials:

Contact:

Office of Public Affairs
(202) 512-4800
youngc1@gao.gov

GAO discussed federal research grants awarded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF), focusing on the possibility of conflicts of interest or competitive advantage resulting from inappropriate access to research results. GAO noted that: (1) greater controls are needed to monitor access to research information and to the research beneficiaries; (2) between 1989 and 1990, 35 universities granted and earned $29.3 million from 197 exclusive licenses and $52.7 million from 339 nonexclusive licenses; (3) potential conflicts of interest between universities and private industry involved scientists who developed the technologies for exclusive licenses and owned stock in the licensee, and members of industrial liaison programs who are granted exclusive licenses for technology they did not directly co-sponsor; (4) in 1990, NIH and NSF spent $5.8 billion for university research and relied on universities to establish and enforce conflict-of-interest regulations; (5) NIH planned to publish regulations that would require interested research personnel to disclose outside interests before award and prohibit NIH clinical drug trial investigators and key personnel from having financial relationships with interested businesses; and (6) NSF has proposed that faculty members, investigators, and professional employees at grantee institutions disclose certain types of outside interests before an award is made.

Sep 3, 2020

Aug 31, 2020

Aug 11, 2020

Jul 30, 2020

Jul 28, 2020

  • science icon, source: National Cancer Institute

    Science & Tech Spotlight:

    Contact Tracing Apps
    GAO-20-666SP: Published: Jul 28, 2020. Publicly Released: Jul 28, 2020.

Jul 7, 2020

Jun 30, 2020

  • science icon, source: National Cancer Institute

    Science & Tech Spotlight:

    E-cigarettes
    GAO-20-610SP: Published: Jun 30, 2020. Publicly Released: Jun 30, 2020.

Jun 4, 2020

  • science icon, source: National Cancer Institute

    Science & Tech Spotlight:

    COVID-19 Modeling
    GAO-20-582SP: Published: Jun 4, 2020. Publicly Released: Jun 4, 2020.

May 28, 2020

  • science icon, source: National Cancer Institute

    Science & Tech Spotlight:

    Quantum Technologies
    GAO-20-527SP: Published: May 28, 2020. Publicly Released: May 28, 2020.

May 26, 2020

Looking for more? Browse all our products here