University of Washington leery of tighter security around research

At the University of Washington’s Physics Department, a German won the Nobel Prize, the leading nanotechnology researcher is British and about half of the post-doctoral students come from other countries.

Nationality was not considered an impediment to research before, but it might be under new regulations proposed by the U.S. Commerce Department.

Commerce is set to approve tighter security controls this month on scientific research performed by foreign nationals. The proposed regulations, aimed at stopping the transfer of sensitive technology to certain countries, could prevent many non-U.S. citizens from using equipment or software at universities such as UW without a special license.

By Kristi Heim

Seattle Times business reporter

Full Story: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2002780350_researchban03.html