Mason's Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) has recently made some updates to the internal requirements for research security.
Malign Foreign Talent Recruitment Program:
Mason has implemented a Malign Foreign Talent Recruitment Program certification for ALL federal research proposals that includes a review of key personnel Biosketches, Current and Pending and COI disclosures. However, if a biosketch and current and pending is not required by the sponsor, key personnel may now complete the new MFTRP Certification Form instead.
Biosketch and Current and Pending forms using the Common form template or created in SciENcv contain the MFTRP certification. Therefore, if only one of these forms is required by the sponsor, then only one form needs to be submitted for MFTRP certification review. Key personnel will no longer have to prepare both the current and pending and the biosketch forms if both are not required under the proposal.
Research Security Training
Given recent updates to the MasonLeaps Training Records on RAMP, the Research Security Training in MasonLeaps has been updated with GMU-specific resources and information added. This new training will replace both the NSF Research Security (Condensed) training and the International Collaborations training previously available in LEAPS.
This module takes approximately 60 minutes to complete. The course can be found by logging into MasonLeaps and searching for the title, Research Security Training; Provider: ORIA.
Please note if you have completed the valid training (condensed version) previously, it is still valid for a year.
Similar to before, we recommend that all PIs preparing to submit research proposals complete the Research Security Training. Below is a chart of the agencies that have mandated the training as well as implementation date.
| Agency | Effective Date | Policy or Notice Link |
| DOE | 5/1/2025 | FAL 2025-02 |
| NSF | 12/2/2025 | Important Notice 149 |
| USDA | 12/31/2025 | USDA General Terms & Conditions (pg. 27) |
| NIH | 5/26/2026 | NOT-OD-26-017 |
| NASA | 8/5/2026 | GIC 26-02 |
For more information on these changes, please visit the OSP website.
As always, please contact the CHSS Pre-Award Team if you have any questions.
March 02, 2026