NCSES Organizational Data Use Agreement

National Science Foundation
National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics
ORGANIZATIONAL DATA USE AGREEMENT
Data collected by the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES)1 may

be used only for the purpose for which they were obtained – data processing, statistical

analysis, and statistical reporting. Any effort to determine the identity of any respondent or
to use or disclose the information for any purpose other than statistical analysis and

statistical reporting could violate the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical

Efficiency Act of 2018 (CIPSEA); Title 13 United States Code, section nine; section 14(i) of
the National Science Foundation Act of 1950, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 1873(i); and/or the

Privacy Act of 1974 as amended, 5 U.S.C. 552a. NCSES is the designated System Manager for
these Privacy Act systems of records covering this statistical data.2

NCSES has taken every effort to assure that the confidentiality of the data is carefully
protected. Considerable harm could ensue if there were unauthorized access to or

disclosure by any user of the data, of identifiable information concerning a respondent to

the survey. The organization using these data accepts an obligation equivalent to that of the
releasing organization (NCSES) to protect the file against unauthorized access and
disclosure of data. Therefore, the receiving organization agrees to:

1. Use the files only for statistical and research purposes as authorized by NCSES; no

attempt will be made to identify or contact individual survey respondents unless such

identification is directly related to survey administrative tasks authorized by NCSES.

NCSES collects data through the following surveys: Early Career Doctorates Survey, Survey of Earned
Doctorates, Survey of Doctorate Recipients, National Survey of College Graduate, National Survey of Recent
College Graduates, Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering, National
Training, Education, and Workforce Survey, Survey of Postdocs at FFRDCs, Annual Business Survey, Business
Enterprise Research and Development Survey, Business R&D Innovation Survey- Microbusiness, FFRDC
Research and Development Survey, Higher Education Research and Development Survey, Nonprofit Research
Activities Survey, Survey of Federal Funds for R&D, Survey of Federal Science and Engineering Support to
Universities, Colleges, and Nonprofit Institutions, and the Survey of State Government Research and
Development.
2 The U.S. Census Bureau is the designated manager for the system of records for the NSCG and NTEWS.

1

Last Modified: 2/18/2022

2. Release information from the data only in statistical summaries that do not disclose
information about any individual survey respondent.

3. Not release the data or any data product to any other organization or person without
prior approval from NCSES.

4. Have all subcontractor organizations sign the Organizational Data Use Agreements and
return the originals to NCSES.

5. Have all employees (including subcontractor employees) who have the potential to

interact with the data, sign the Individual Data Use Agreement and return the original

to NCSES.

6. Not link the data with any other system of records unless such a task is formally
approved by NCSES.

7. Inform the NCSES Chief Statistician and NCSES Confidentiality Officer of any data
violations within one hour of discovery.

8. Return any copies of the data to NCSES at the completion of the contract or license

agreement. No copies of the file or confidential data will be retained by the receiving
organization.

As the authorized representative of this organization, I hereby agree that this organization

and its employees will comply with the provisions specified above and the confidentiality
laws cited above.
Name:

Signature:

Position Title:
Organization:
Date:

NOTE: Data Use Agreements must be renewed annually to continue access to
confidential data.
Last Modified: 2/18/2022

National Science Foundation
National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics
INDIVIDUAL DATA USE AGREEMENT
Data collected by the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES)1 may
be used only for the purpose for which they were obtained – data processing, statistical

analysis, and statistical reporting. Any effort to determine the identity of any respondent or
to use or disclose the information for any purpose other than statistical analysis and

statistical reporting could violate the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical

Efficiency Act of 2018 (CIPSEA); Title 13 United States Code, section nine; section 14(i) of
the National Science Foundation Act of 1950, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 1873(i); and/or the

Privacy Act of 1974 as amended, 5 U.S.C. 552a. NCSES is the designated System Manager for
these Privacy Act systems of records covering this statistical data.2

NCSES has taken every effort to assure that the confidentiality of the data is carefully
protected. Considerable harm could ensue if there were unauthorized access to or

disclosure by any user of the data, of identifiable information concerning a respondent to

the survey. Therefore, the undersigned gives the following assurances with respect to these

data:

1. I will not use the data for any purpose other than statistical analysis, statistical

reporting, or other uses as authorized by NCSES. I understand that information from

the data will be publicly disclosed only in statistical summaries which do not
1

NCSES collects data through the following surveys: Early Career Doctorates Survey, Survey of Earned
Doctorates, Survey of Doctorate Recipients, National Survey of College Graduate, National Survey of Recent
College Graduates, Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering, National
Training, Education, and Workforce Survey, Survey of Postdocs at FFRDCs, Annual Business Survey, Business
Enterprise Research and Development Survey, Business R&D Innovation Survey- Microbusiness, FFRDC
Research and Development Survey, Higher Education Research and Development Survey, Nonprofit Research
Activities Survey, Survey of Federal Funds for R&D, Survey of Federal Science and Engineering Support to
Universities, Colleges, and Nonprofit Institutions, and the Survey of State Government Research and
Development.
2 The U.S. Census Bureau is the designated manager for the system of records for the NSCG and NTEWS.

Last Modified: 2/18/2022

disclose information about any individual respondent, and only after written

authorization from NCSES.

2. I will not disclose the data or any part of them to any other person or organization,

except as specifically allowed and instructed under fully ratified contracts or license

agreements.

3. I will not use the data to attempt to learn the identity of, or to gain information

concerning, any individual survey respondent included in the data unless the task is

directly related to survey administrative tasks with written authorization from
NCSES.

4. If the identity of any individual survey respondent should be discovered

inadvertently, I will not make use of this knowledge and will advise the NCSES Chief

Statistician and NCSES Confidentiality Officer (1) of the incident, (2) how the

information about the respondent will be safeguarded, and (3) that no one else will
be told of the information discovered.

I hereby agree to comply with the provisions specified above and the confidentiality laws

cited above.
Name:

Signature:

Organization:
Date:

NOTE: Data Use Agreements must be renewed annually if access to the confidential
data is to be continued. Survey Contractor’s staff are exempt from the condition (4)
above when the identification is directly involved in the survey conduct, as
authorized by NCSES.

Last Modified: 2/18/2022

OMB requires that all individuals (e.g., NCSES staff, contractors, researchers) who work with
confidential data must undergo annual training on confidentiality laws and best practices to keep
respondent information confidential. As noted in the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical
Efficiency Act of 2018, NCSES is responsible for “training their officers, employees, and agents in their
legal obligations to protect the confidentiality of individually identifiable information.”
All NCSES employees, onboarded contractors, and external contractors are required to complete
the 2024 NCSES Data Confidentiality Training by March 31, 2024.
External Contractors who do not have internal access to NSF systems or staff that use VDI, please use the
link below. For those accessing the course from the link below, they have to print the certificate to certify
that they’ve completed the course.
2024 NCSES Data Confidentiality Training (CIPSEA)
Here is the link to the required 2024 NCSES Data Confidentiality Training (CIPSEA):
https://360.articulate.com/review/content/b32c983c-ba20-4b98-9893-7058a0eef259/review
You and all your collaborators must complete this training.
To complete the training, it is required to have a passing score of 70% or better. You are able to retake the
training as many times as needed until a passing score is achieved.
Here are instructions on how to provide a copy of test results:
After completing the training with a passing score of 70% or better, click on the Print button.

Enter your name and then select OK.

Right click on your mouse and select Print to bring up printing options. Select Save as PDF and select
the location on your computer to save the document. Rename the document as Results_(Name). Save the
document to your computer. Attach PDF of copy of test results to email.

David Folkerts
Program Analyst
Data Access, Confidentiality, and Quality Assessment
National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics
National Science Foundation
(W) 703-292-2679
Email: dfolkert@nsf.gov
https://ncses.nsf.gov/