Inviting International Visitors
What are the concerns?
International guests and delegations to the Princeton campus allows for interpersonal exchanges and deeper exploration of innovative approaches, both of which are critical to the formation of strategic global partnerships. Princeton remains committed to openness and international collaboration, which are essential to our research enterprise--in the nation’s service and the service of humanity.
In certain rare cases, international visitors may present undue foreign influence and research security concerns. This may occur, for example, when the visitor’s home country institution appears on a U.S. Government restricted party list. As Princeton hosts many different types of international visitors for academic and research objectives, the University fully supports opportunities for international visitors to participate in our academic programs, while remaining mindful of instances where foreign influence may be a concern in research activities.
In addition, the University’s Intellectual Property (IP) policies are carefully designed to prevent unauthorized or intended IP acquisition by visitors to campus.
Categories of international visitors include, but are not limited to the following:
- Visiting students
- Visiting individuals and/or delegations from industry, government, and/or non-profit entities
- Volunteers who will engage in research and/or academic activities.
Princeton’s Actions:
- Princeton conducts non-intrusive screening of visitor’s to campus utilizing publicly available sources of information to identify potentially problematic affiliations.
- In some cases, Princeton may require the visitor’s home institution to execute an IP ownership agreement covering IP generated while at Princeton.