The December 2018 update from the Council on Governmental Relations (COGR) provides a thorough overview of current developments and challenges in the domain of federally funded research administration, policy reform, compliance, and oversight within the higher education and research community. The document highlights the upcoming release of the COGR F&A White Paper, aimed at clarifying issues around Facilities and Administrative (F&A) cost rates and establishing a more productive dialogue on equitable research funding. Emerging technologies, such as blockchain and cloud computing, are discussed in relation to their impact on research cost structures and federal reimbursement policies, with COGR noting ongoing concerns over federal agencies’ treatment of cloud computing expenses.
Key regulatory and compliance topics include revisions to the OMB Compliance Supplement for 2019, evolving NSF and NIH approaches to issues like sexual harassment reporting, research misconduct, and data management, and ongoing reviews of human subjects and fetal tissue research motivated by both policy debates and ethical considerations. The report details significant federal efforts to streamline and harmonize regulatory requirements, such as the NIH OLAW draft aimed at reducing administrative burdens in animal research, updates to the regulatory reform matrix, and inter-agency cooperation on harmonizing oversight mechanisms.
Audit findings and financial oversight are also prominent, with reviews of subrecipient monitoring, indirect cost recoveries, and conflict-of-interest procedures at research institutions, highlighting instances of noncompliance as well as institutional responses. The update addresses pending legislative and policy changes regarding export controls on emerging technologies and university concerns surrounding possible impacts on fundamental research. Additional discussions focus on the ongoing debate over drug pricing legislation and its implications for university-held intellectual property, as well as increasing scrutiny of foreign influence—particularly from China—on research integrity and technology transfer. Throughout, the report reflects COGR’s advocacy role, its engagement with federal agencies and lawmakers, and its commitment to supporting the research community through policy analysis, reform recommendations, and collaborative responses to national challenges.
