SAFE Research Act sparks debate over international collaboration

posted on Nov 3, 2025
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The SAFE Research Act (Securing American Funding and Expertise from Adversarial Research Exploitation Act of 2025) was included in the House of Representatives’ version of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which passed the House last month. This legislation is one of the few pieces of legislation that must pass the US Congress each year. The SAFE Research Act was not included in the Senate-passed version of the NDAA. The House and Senate will now “conference” to decide which provisions to include in the final bill. If included, the SAFE Research Act would prohibit U.S. federal research funding from going to researchers or institutions that collaborate with “hostile foreign entities”. STM is drafting a letter that aligns with other bodies in the research sector who point out that this could have an impact on essential international collaboration. 

Read more: AAU Expresses Concerns on NDAA’s SAFE Research Act

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