Institutions face Aug. 31 deadline or risk losing federal research funding

The Department of Defense announced Monday that it had directed 30 U.S. academic institutions to immediately and comprehensively review their collaborations for ties to “foreign entities of concern.” Institutions have until Aug. 31 to report their findings in order to maintain eligibility for federal grants, the department said.

The directive cites Section 1286 of the fiscal year 2019 National Defense Authorization Act, which identifies a list of 130 academic and research institutions in China, Russia, and Iran. That list was updated last month. The audits also cover ties with entities associated with rebranded Confucius Institutes.

“Universities are critical partners in executing a wide range of Department of War research programs, and the Department must therefore ensure that our research investments are well protected from foreign exploitation,” Joseph Jewell, assistant secretary of Defense for Science and Technology, said in a statement.

The statement referred to the Defense Department by its secondary title, “Department of War,” a designation President Donald Trump authorized last year. The department’s statutory name remains the Department of Defense.

The audits are part of a broader Pentagon effort to protect Defense Department research from foreign adversaries and follow legislation Congress passed in December 2024 as part of the fiscal 2025 National Defense Authorization Act. That law requires annual reviews of research grants for compliance with Pentagon research-security policies.

Emil Michael, under secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, said the department “has zero tolerance for academic partnerships that compromise our national security.” The institutions are also being directed to implement mitigation plans that include terminating what the Pentagon called “problematic partnerships.”

According to the Pentagon, the audits are intended to protect U.S. taxpayer-funded research from getting into the hands of adversarial nations and from unauthorized transfer and intellectual property theft. The reviews will also aid the Defense Department in better anticipating emerging threats and adapting to evolving adversarial tactics, the department said.

The 30 institutions subject to the directive were not named in the Defense Department’s announcement.