Foreign Talent Recruitment Programs - What makes a talent program malign?

A Foreign Talent Recruitment Program (FTRP) is an effort organized, managed, or funded by a foreign government or its affiliated entities to recruit science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) professionals or students. These programs offer financial or professional incentives, such as salary support, grants, research funding, or other forms of compensation. Participants may be asked to relocate to another country or to maintain concurrent affiliations and research activities in multiple locations.

Some programs, known as Malign Foreign Talent Recruitment Programs (MFTRPs), are sponsored by the governments of countries of concern, including China, Iran, Russia, and North Korea. Universities and research institutions in these countries may be considered entities affiliated with or connected to their respective governments.

Although these programs may offer attractive incentives, researchers are often encouraged, or even required, to engage in activities that create conflicts of commitment or present research security concerns. Such activities may include transferring intellectual property, duplicating federally funded research efforts, establishing a laboratory at a foreign institution, accepting a position that conflicts with obligations to their home institution, concealing participation in the program from their U.S. employer or funding agencies, or filing patents in a foreign country before, or instead of, filing in the United States.