The conduct and results of fundamental research may proceed openly and be shared freely with foreign nationals in the United States without concern for deemed export restrictions. Export-controlled items, software code, or information provided by a third party, however, may not be openly shared with certain foreign nationals, even though those individuals may be important contributors to the performance of the fundamental research. For example, a corporate vendor or a research partner may have to disclose the proprietary heat and vibration tolerances on a piece of export-controlled hardware being provided for use in carrying out a fundamental research experiment. Proprietary or restricted information that is required for the development, production or use of export-controlled equipment is itself export-controlled. It carries with it export control requirements that must be honored by the researcher who agrees to be a recipient of such information.

Before a researcher decides to accept such information, he or she must review the conditions of the University's Openness in Research Policy. If the receipt of such information is in compliance with University policy, the researcher must complete a Certification on the Handling and Use of Third-Party Export Controlled Information. Should the researcher have a need to share export-controlled information with others, the researcher must then determine a proposed recipient's eligibility under export control regulations. This is done by notifying the University Export Control Officer of the need to share the export-controlled information before it is shared in order to assure proper determination of export control eligibility. If the proposed recipient is determined to be a foreign national, and eligible to receive the export-controlled information, the primary researcher must document the available license exclusion or license exception (see below).