Mar 31, 2020 01:46 AM
I’m always behind on the news but this was rather shocking.
Nanoscientist Charles Lieber allegedly lied about his involvement in China’s Thousand Talents Plan.
—Researchers have reacted with shock to the arrest of Charles Lieber, a prominent Harvard University chemist and nanotechnology pioneer, who has been charged with making false statements to the US government about receiving research funding from China.
—Lieber, who is known for engineering new nanomaterials and developing their applications in medicine and biology, was arrested on 28 January.
—The charges focus on Lieber’s alleged involvement in China’s Thousand Talents Plan, a prestigious programme designed to recruit leading academics to the country. Documents outlining the charges allege that Lieber received hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Wuhan University of Technology (WUT) in China and agreed to lead a lab there — and that when US government agencies asked about his involvement with the programme he stated that he was not a participant and denied any formal affiliation with WUT. Lieber’s legal team did not respond to Nature’s requests for comment.
—The arrest comes as US authorities are increasingly scrutinizing universities’ foreign links, amid fears that overseas governments could be stealing intellectual property or influencing US research.
—Details of Lieber’s alleged offences appear in a charging document submitted by the FBI in connection with his arrest. It says that for periods of time between 2012 and 2017, Lieber agreed to be paid a salary of $50,000 per month, as well as about $150,000 a year in personal and living expenses, by WUT, and was given more than $1.5 million to set up a research lab there. According to a contract cited in the document, Lieber was to work at or for WUT for at least nine months a year. Lieber also agreed to host visiting scientists for two-month stints at his US lab, according to the FBI, an agreement that Harvard was not aware of.
—At the same time, Lieber continued his tenure at Harvard University and applied for funding from US agencies, receiving at least $15 million in federal grants from the Department of Defense (DOD) and the NIH since 2008. NIH policies require that researchers applying for federal funds disclose any funding they receive from other governments or universities outside the United States. Lieber was asked about his participation in the Thousand Talents Plan in April 2018 by DOD investigators, and by Harvard in late 2018 in response to an enquiry from the NIH. In both instances, the FBI says, he denied being part of it.
—China’s Thousand Talents Plan has been one focus of the US government’s efforts to crack down on foreign interference in research. In November last year, a US Senate panel suggested that the program could be a means by which the Chinese government diverts US intellectual property for the state’s own benefit. Michael Lauer, a deputy director at the NIH, told lawmakers that the contracts encouraged participants to set up ‘shadow labs’ in China that replicated their work at US institutions. In December, an elite science advisory group known as JASON recommended in a report that US agencies support fruitful international collaborations while strengthening policies that require scientists to be transparent about conflicts of interest.
Nanoscientist Charles Lieber allegedly lied about his involvement in China’s Thousand Talents Plan.
—Researchers have reacted with shock to the arrest of Charles Lieber, a prominent Harvard University chemist and nanotechnology pioneer, who has been charged with making false statements to the US government about receiving research funding from China.
—Lieber, who is known for engineering new nanomaterials and developing their applications in medicine and biology, was arrested on 28 January.
—The charges focus on Lieber’s alleged involvement in China’s Thousand Talents Plan, a prestigious programme designed to recruit leading academics to the country. Documents outlining the charges allege that Lieber received hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Wuhan University of Technology (WUT) in China and agreed to lead a lab there — and that when US government agencies asked about his involvement with the programme he stated that he was not a participant and denied any formal affiliation with WUT. Lieber’s legal team did not respond to Nature’s requests for comment.
—The arrest comes as US authorities are increasingly scrutinizing universities’ foreign links, amid fears that overseas governments could be stealing intellectual property or influencing US research.
—Details of Lieber’s alleged offences appear in a charging document submitted by the FBI in connection with his arrest. It says that for periods of time between 2012 and 2017, Lieber agreed to be paid a salary of $50,000 per month, as well as about $150,000 a year in personal and living expenses, by WUT, and was given more than $1.5 million to set up a research lab there. According to a contract cited in the document, Lieber was to work at or for WUT for at least nine months a year. Lieber also agreed to host visiting scientists for two-month stints at his US lab, according to the FBI, an agreement that Harvard was not aware of.
—At the same time, Lieber continued his tenure at Harvard University and applied for funding from US agencies, receiving at least $15 million in federal grants from the Department of Defense (DOD) and the NIH since 2008. NIH policies require that researchers applying for federal funds disclose any funding they receive from other governments or universities outside the United States. Lieber was asked about his participation in the Thousand Talents Plan in April 2018 by DOD investigators, and by Harvard in late 2018 in response to an enquiry from the NIH. In both instances, the FBI says, he denied being part of it.
—China’s Thousand Talents Plan has been one focus of the US government’s efforts to crack down on foreign interference in research. In November last year, a US Senate panel suggested that the program could be a means by which the Chinese government diverts US intellectual property for the state’s own benefit. Michael Lauer, a deputy director at the NIH, told lawmakers that the contracts encouraged participants to set up ‘shadow labs’ in China that replicated their work at US institutions. In December, an elite science advisory group known as JASON recommended in a report that US agencies support fruitful international collaborations while strengthening policies that require scientists to be transparent about conflicts of interest.
