As it relates to the guidance and information provided on this site, any work between a CMU faculty member and staff and a person or entity based outside of the U.S. could be considered an “international engagement.” Much of the guidance on this site and the compliance efforts of the Office of the Vice President for Resarch and the Office of the Vice Provost for Eedcation are focused on those engagements for which there is a formal agreement or contract in place, such as a sponsored project agreement, an educational agreement, a gift agreement or other contract.

Other engagements that do not have a governing contract such as informal, unfunded research collaboration still require at least a minimal amount of consideration by the cognizant CMU faculty or staff member participating in that work, particularly if it involves individuals or entities based in a country of concern. See the guidance on non-contracted (i.e. “informal”) collaboration with foreign entities and individuals for more details and guidance on those circumstances.

This site and FAQ is largely focused on compliance considerations when pursuing and executing international engagements. Guidance and support on how to strategically approach and structure new international engagements and partnerships can be found by consulting partnerships officers and leaders in individual colleges, the Center for Business Engagement, University Advancement (UA), the Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) and the Office of the Vice Provost for Education (OVPE).

Yes. The Office of Research Integrity and Compliance (ORIC) maintains a list of countries of concern. Note that a subset of this list includes those countries/regions that are comprehensively sanctioned by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Treasury Department, with whom work is especially restricted by the U.S. government.

Maybe. The countries that appear on the country of concern list are generally those countries that have export control or other commerce-related restrictions or advisories issued by the US government. Whether or not the university is permitted to do business with entities or individuals in that country depends on the details of those restrictions and advisories.

If you are contemplating work with an individual or entity in a country of concern, please contact the Export Compliance Group so that they may do a restricted party screening of your prospective partner(s) and provide the appropriate guidance based on the results of that screening process.

Restricted Party Screening (RPS) is a process for screening individuals and organizations against the various governmental lists of prohibited, restricted and debarred entities. Restricted Party Screening conducted at CMU uses a Trade Compliance Management System, Amber Road, that cross references over 500 restricted party lists.

The Export Compliance Group (ECG) manages access to the Amber Road system, including training for units who routinely need to screen prospective individuals or entities. When a “match” results from any screening the ECG reviews the details with the relevant unit to either clear the match and/or escalate for further approval.

Unless you are pursuing a collaboration or partnership with an individual or entity based in a comprehensively sanctioned OFAC country/region (a highlighted subset of the countries of concern list), initial conversations or meetings with a prospective partner or collaborator do not require formal approval from the university. However, you should still be aware of and follow guidelines and requirements related to travel, shipping, export control and intellectual property protection. 

Additionally, if you are contemplating work in or with an individual or entity based in a Country of Concern you should work with the Export Compliance Group to perform a restricted party screening at the earliest opportunity. 

Any work that will involve a contract will ultimately need to be approved by the relevant leadership office(s) at CMU, such as the Offices of the Provost, VPR or VP University Advancement (UA). Therefore, we strongly recommend you also engage with representatives from OSP, OVPE and/or UA as early as possible in the process of exploring research, education or philanthropic opportunities with a foreign individual or entity.

Generally not, provided that the conference is not located in a country/region that is comprehensively sanctioned by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Treasury Department. Comprehensively sanctioned OFAC countries/regions are a highlighted subset of the CMU countries of concern list.

Regardless of the conference location, you should only present work that is either already in the public domain (either via publication in books, journal articles, newsletters, pamphlets; publicly available technology and software; information presented at conferences, meetings, and seminars open to the public; information included in published patents; websites freely accessible by the public ) or you intend to put in the public domain and is not subject to a sponsor review or restriction.

For additional support and guidance see FAQs realted to international travel.

Co-authoring papers as a result of formal (i.e. contracted or sponsored) or informal (i.e. non-contracted or sponsored) collaboration does not require additional review provided the following are all true:

• The collaborator’s institution is not based in one of the countries that is comprehensively sanctioned by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). Such countries are a highlighted subset of the CMU Countries of Concern list.
• Any data or information being shared is either already published or in the public domain (e.g. books, newspapers, pamphlets; publicly available technology and software; information presented at conferences, meetings, and seminars open to the public; information included in published patents; websites freely accessible by the public); 
• All results of the collaboration are intended to be put in the public domain (i.e. published or open sourced etc.) and is not subject to a sponsor review or restriction; and
• The collaboration does not involve CMU researchers performing their portion of the research on site in an international location.

If a researcher is unsure about any of the above, they are encouraged to consult with the Office of Research Integrity and Compliance (ORIC) prior to engaging with their international collaborators on the relevant research.

Generally yes. However, much of the reviews and clearances needed for the specific curriculum and degree programs at those international sites were completed as part of the original establishment of the program. However, if you are contemplating new research or educational activities that will involve the transfer of electronic or tangible materials back and forth between the U.S. and any of CMU’s global campus or international programs, you should contact the Export Compliance Group (ECG) for specific guidance. ECG will engage with relevant colleagues overseeing the international program.

Perhaps. As part of its review and approval of a related contract, a US-based company with an international parent company may result in the contract being reviewed as if it was an internationally sponsored agreement. This determination is made by the cognizant offices (OSP, OVPE and University Advancement).

Things that would influence whether the university wants to treat a US-based company as “international” are:

• Size, scope of US Operation relative to international operations
• Past history of working with the US operation
• The degree to which members of the international offices/business units are involved in scoping the work and/or receiving deliverables. 

Even if a contract is with a US-based subsidiary, if you have regular contact with representatives in the international offices and will be delivering presentations or materials to them, you should make OSP aware of those circumstances so that you can receive any relevant guidance on issues such as export control and IP protections.

You should only discuss work that is either already in the public domain (either via publication in books, journal articles, newsletters, pamphlets; publicly available technology and software; information presented at conferences, meetings, and seminars open to the public; information included in published patents; websites freely accessible by the public ) or you intend to put in the public domain and is not subject to a sponsor review or restriction.

No review or approvals are needed in these circumstances provided the following are true:

• The sponsoring or host entity that has invited you to deliver the presentation is not located in a country/region that is comprehensively sanctioned by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Treasury Department. Comprehensively sanctioned OFAC countries/regions are a highlighted subset of the CMU countries of concern list.
• You are only presenting work that is either already in the public domain (either via publication in books, journal articles, newsletters, pamphlets; publicly available technology and software; information presented at conferences, meetings, and seminars open to the public; information included in published patents; websites freely accessible by the public ) or you intend to put in the public domain and is not subject to a sponsor review or restriction.
• Any coursework being delivered is only comprised of content that is already typically used in teaching (i.e. information released during instruction in a catalog course or associated teaching laboratory of CMU or another academic institution).

If any of the above are not true or you are unsure you should consult the Export Compliance Group (ECG) before presenting or teaching.

If you are shipping any tangible items to a foreign-based sponsor or collaborator, consult the guidance from the Export Compliance Group on international shipping.

If you are sending information or data electronically to an international collaborator, ensure that it only consists of information or data that is either already in the public domain (either via publication in books, journal articles, newsletters, pamphlets; publicly available technology and software; information presented at conferences, meetings, and seminars open to the public; information included in published patents; websites freely accessible by the public ) or you intend to put in the public domain and is not subject to a sponsor review or restriction.

When electronically transmitting information or data that is not already in the public domain, ensure that it consists only of information or data that is covered by the deliverables outlined in the scope of work for your sponsored project agreement and follow any specific guidance, if applicable, provided by the Export Compliance Group at the time of award. In addition, file any relevant IP disclosures with the Center for Technology Transfer and Enterprise Creation (CTTEC) before sending IP (including source code, datasets or anything you MIGHT want protected) to the sponsor.

Even if the results of a prospective collaboration or engagement are intended to be published or otherwise put in the public domain, there may still be intellectual property generated in the course of a collaboration you want to protect. The OVPR recommends the following:

• Before any meetings with prospective partners, submit a disclosure to the Center for Technology Transfer and Enterprise Creation (CTTEC) for any IP for which you MIGHT want to be protected.
• Do not share source code or pre-compiled software that you want protected unless there is a relevant contract or agreement in place with the other party.
• Submit disclosures to CTTEC for all relevant IP generated as part of a sponsored project BEFORE sending that IP to your sponsor.

In the absence of any other restrictions resulting from COVID-19 or other circumstances, you do not need university approval for traveling internationally that is above and beyond any other approvals you may need for traveling on university business.

However, there are many issues and considerations that you should contemplate before booking and embarking on international travel. See more details in other FAQs and resources below.

The OVPR recommends that you review and follow the relevant guidance contained in the following resources before traveling internationally, particularly when traveling to or through (i.e. layover flights) any country of concern:

• Export Compliance Group: “Foreign Travel: Know Before You Go”
• International travel advisories from the U.S. Department of State
• CMU Information Security Office’s International Travel Guidance

Consider not taking your usual work or personal laptop, tablet or phone, particularly when traveling to or through a country of concern. Your devices and data will be safest if they remain at home or in a locked office on campus. Check with your department IT staff if there are loaner laptops available for you to use. These laptops should have basic tools installed, but none of your sensitive data and no software that is subject to export control. Remember, even as a US citizen, US customs can seize your devices at US borders, not to mention any other country's customs.

Follow the international travel guidance from the Information security office as well as the general guidance on secure computing.

CMU's VPN software can be downloaded from Computing Services. 

Make sure you have the CMU VPN software on your laptop. This allows you to create a secure connection to campus for use of campus resources. The default VPN will not encrypt all of your traffic, just traffic to campus IP addresses. If you would like to encrypt all traffic, use the Library Resources VPN. You will experience degraded performance, but all traffic from your laptop will be encrypted to campus prior to being routed to its final destination.

If you suspect unauthorized access of your device(s) or accounts, notify the Information Security Office as soon as possible.

CMU's Information Security Office (ISO) maintains travel related guidance that outlines what individuals should do prior, during and upon return from travel.

That depends on many factors like type of research, participant's nationality, NDAs, acceptance of export controlled information, etc. To help you get an idea, below are a few basic questions that can help identify whether export controls may be triggered. This is not an all inclusive list but does cover some primary areas of concern.

Does your research or activity involve:

• Collaborating with foreign colleagues in foreign countries?
• Hand carrying export controlled items to foreign countries (e.g. laptops, GPS, unpublished technology or technical data)?
• Travel to a country that is comprehensively sanctioned by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Treasury Department. Comprehensively embargoed OFAC countries are a highlighted subset of the CMU countries of concern list?
• Shipping any physical item(s) including software and/or transmission of technical data to a foreign country?
• Participation of a country that is comprehensively sanctioned by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Treasury Department. Comprehensively embargoed OFAC countries are a highlighted subset of the CMU countries of concern list?
• Any documents or technical data marked "Export Controlled" or “Controlled Unclassified Information”?
• Any agreements with export control language?
• Sponsor pre-approval rights over publications?
• Sponsor placing any restrictions on or reporting of, foreign national participation?

The university campus is open to students and faculty from many different countries. Access to restricted or export controlled technology, commodities, defense articles and defense services by an unauthorized foreign person could result in severe criminal or civil penalties for the university and the university employee making the export. Prosecution of an export violation may result in fines of up to $1M and/or a prison sentence of up to 20 years.

In coordination with the Office for Sponsored Projects (OSP), the Export Compliance Group in the Office of Research Integrity and Compliance (ORIC) and the Principal Investigator should conduct a thorough review of the research project and contract provisions to determine whether and, if so how, a particular research project is impacted by the regulations. The University will assist PIs in assessing the application of such regulations, but primary compliance responsibility rests with the Principal Investigator of the research.

Principal Investigators have the following responsibilities:

• prior to commencing any research, to review and cooperate with OSP and ORIC to determine whether your 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 work with the Export Compliance Group (ECG) to make export determinations far enough in advance to obtain a license, should one be required
• to understand the severe consequences of non-compliance with export control laws (fine and/or jail)

A “deemed export” is the release of technology, information, data or source code to a non U.S. person (i.e. citizen or green card holder) in the United States. Such release is deemed to be an export to the home country or countries of the non U.S. Person. 

A “deemed export violation” may occur when a deemed export involves technology, information, data or source code that is subject to export control regulations.

You should be concerned about “deemed exports” under the following circumstances:

• Delivering course content that is NOT typically used in teaching (i.e. information released during instruction in a catalog course or associated teaching laboratory of CMU or another academic institution);
• Transferring information that is NOT already published or in the public domain (e.g. books, newspapers, pamphlets; publicly available technology and software; information presented at conferences, meetings, and seminars open to the public; information included in published patents; websites freely accessible by the public) or intended to be published or released in the public domain without sponsor review or restriction;
• Your work allows for pre-publication review and/or approval by your sponsor;
• Receiving and/or using export controlled information or technology during your research or teaching activities;

Contact the Export Compliance Group (ECG) for additional support and guidance if any of the above are true or you are unsure.

Non-compliance with the export control regulations can result in severe monetary and criminal penalties against both an individual as well as the university, and can result in fines, jail time, loss of export privileges, the loss of research contracts, debarment from government grants/contracts and reputational damage. The criminal and civil penalties for unlawful exports of items or information controlled under the ITAR is a maximum of $1,000,000 per violation or imprisonment of up to twenty years, or both. The penalty for unlawful export of items or information controlled under the EAR is a fine of up to $1,000,000 per violation or five times the value of the exports, whichever is greater; or, for an individual, imprisonment of up to ten years or a fine of up to $250,000 per violation or both.