USU College of Engineering and SDL Collaborative Research Procedures

The partnership with SDL and USU is very beneficial to both institutions. The procedures below help ensure a seamless effort for USU faculty, students, and SDL personnel to collaborate on various types of projects. This includes helping USU faculty get credit toward their research role and tenure pursuit, as well as USU recovering indirect costs where applicable.

The primary approach will be for SDL to subcontract work to USU for all project types which include IRAD, non-classified, and classified contracts. This includes the opportunity for joint appointee designation where USU faculty would be treated as SDL employees for projects that 1) require access to specialized SDL systems, 2) have Controlled Unclassified Information 3) require a security clearance, or 4) have program specific security constraints.

The option to use consulting leave in support of SDL projects is still available, however, this may not count toward research, promotion, and tenure depending on the individual circumstance.

Proposal Guidelines

USU faculty will submit proposals to SDL that align with SDL focus areas. Proposals should be routed through Kuali, this is also applicable to Joint Appointee designated efforts. This will ensure the budgeting is correct and will also ensure research efforts will be counted toward research requirements, promotion, and tenure. The expectation is that USU will be submitting invoices to SDL monthly for all work performed. SDL contracts and IRAD have rigid periods of performances and delivery expectations, it will be a requirement that USU faculty understand these expectations, adhere to them, and invoice accurately and timely.

IDC Rates

*Externally funded projects

Please work with your department Business Manager for assistance with Kuali and necessary forms/documentation.

Additional detail and up to date information can be found on the research tab of the CoE site: Collaborate with Space Dynamics Laboratory

Meetings

These can occur at either USU or SDL and would be dependent upon the contract type and what needs to be discussed. Classified contract discussion must occur in an SDL SCIF.

Equipment use on classified work and project containing CUI

USU employees will work on SDL computers and equipment and be treated like SDL employees. Additional training will be required by SDL in these instances.

Publications

Standard government flow down publication restrictions will be applicable for all externally funded projects. It also may require submission through SDL’s Technical Information Clearance (TIC) process. For SDL IRAD efforts, publications must be reviewed by SDL’s attorney for IP and Export Control.

Students

USU students supporting IRAD efforts can work at USU if protections are in place to address work that may include export-controlled technologies/data. If projects contain CUI, USU students would need to become SDL employees. SDL may consider allowing PhD students to work classified contracts but discriminating factors such as necessity and duration will be part of the decision criteria. A majority of SDL’s contracts require that staff working the effort are U.S. Citizens or U.S. Persons. Therefore, there could be restrictions related to nationality for students depending on the effort. SDL does not plan to pursue clearances for USU students with the exception of potentially PhD candidates which would be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Export Controls

Requirements are based on the export control laws and will be followed. SDLs Empowered Official shall make these decisions and engage with USU’s Research Integrity and Compliance as needed.