Southern Illinois University Carbondale is among 30 universities nationwide ordered by the Pentagon to review academic, financial and research relationships with certain foreign institutions.
The reviews are part of a federal effort to identify connections with what the government considers “foreign entities of concern.” Universities have until Aug. 31 to examine collaborations and determine whether sensitive or export-controlled research may have been exposed.
SIU is joined on the list by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Illinois Institute of Technology and several major universities including Harvard, MIT and Johns Hopkins.
Federal officials have not publicly said why SIU was selected, and its inclusion does not mean the university has violated federal law.
SIU does maintain a longstanding partnership with Shenyang Aerospace University in China, including a dual-degree program. That relationship was previously cited in a congressional report examining partnerships between American universities and Chinese institutions.
The Pentagon has not said whether that partnership prompted SIU’s inclusion.
Federal officials say the reviews are intended to protect federally funded research from unauthorized technology transfers, intellectual property theft and exploitation by foreign adversaries.