November 20, 2023
Foreign talent recruitment warning
Submitted by Office of the Vice President for Research
The export control community of U.S. universities has recently identified a concern that many researchers across America, including at K-State, have been receiving emails purportedly inviting them to apply for a Foreign Talent Recruitment Program, or FTRP. K-State's Export Control and Research Security communities have identified two concerns with those emails that you should know about.
The first concern is that these emails are probably phishing scams. In the process of requesting your academic qualifications, they also ask for personal data that can be used to harm you financially or in other ways.
The second concern is that if they are legitimate, the stated country of origin, China, likely qualifies their FTRP as a malign program, as defined in the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022. Members of Malign FTRPs are prohibited by this law from receiving federal research awards.
If you receive an email of this nature, please do not respond.
If you have any questions about FTRPs or malign FTRPs, you can find information on the University Research Compliance Office website. Also, please contact Jonathan Snowden, research security officer, at jonathansnowden@k-state.edu or 785-532-3261, or Lisa Brummett, export control officer, at lmbrumme@k-state.edu or 785-532-3224 if you are comfortable discussing the email or if you have any questions.