Federally Funded Research
Controlling Inappropriate Access to Research Results Gao ID: T-RCED-93-19 March 11, 1993GAO believes that generally the public interest is better served if appropriate controls and safeguards are in place governing who gets access to and ultimately benefits from the results of federally funded research. GAO's May 1992 report (GAO/RCED-92-104) recommended that the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation require their grantees to have procedures in place to effectively manage potential conflicts of interest, such as by requiring investigators and other key personnel to disclose any outside interests as part of the grant award process. GAO also believes that the government should at least be consulted about any major, multimillion-dollar agreement that a university, hospital, or other nonprofit research group seeks to negotiate with a private company if that institution receives substantial federal funding and rights to resulting commercial technologies.