James M. Fadool, an associate professor of biology at Florida State University, got a federal grant of more than $300,000 to study eye defects using zebra-fish. Some of that money went to pay another researcher, $1,536 biweekly, to assist with the research and manage the lab where the fish were kept. But an audit by the Office of Inspector General…

This article reports that at Rollins College, a liberal-arts institution, professors are paid to get away for overseas travel so that their students will learn to be more globally minded. The college's president, Lewis M. Duncan, has pledged to send every faculty and staff member with teaching duties abroad once every three years. Since 2006, 128…

As a result of investigations into overhead charges at Stanford University (California), lawmakers and federal agency officials are seeking ways to prevent universities from overcharging the government for indirect costs and ways to improve federal oversight of government payments. (DB)

As Congress prepares for the next cycle of appropriations, lawmakers and academics must consider what military research projects are doing to the universities and decide where the lines on academic freedom should be drawn, both by the government and by the universities themselves. (MSE)

In the largest settlement of its kind, New York University has agreed to pay the federal government $15.5 million to resolve charges that it submitted false information to obtain inflated reimbursements for costs associated with research grants. At least four universities are being investigated on similar grounds. The Clinton Administration issued…

Congressional investigations into university overhead charges, especially those at Stanford University (California), for federally sponsored research are leading universities to reexamine and change some policies, including charging some housing costs for university officers to government contracts. (DB)

Data on federal appropriations for health research and education are presented in a variety of categories, including dollar amounts of fiscal 1993 actual spending, fiscal 1994 President's request, fiscal 1994 amounts approved by the House of Representatives and by the Senate, and fiscal 1994 amounts approved by the President. (MSE)