FAR and DFARS › DFARS Part 235: Research and Development Contracting
DFARS 235.017 Federally Funded Research and Development Centers.
The codified text (eCFR, as of 2026-10-02). Under the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul ↗, agencies follow class deviations with new text for many parts while the formal rules go through the Federal Register: check the solicitation and your contract's clauses, which rule.
In plain English
This DFARS section restricts the use of DoD funds from fiscal year 1992 onward for a DoD Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) when a member of its board of directors or trustees also serves on the board of a profit-making company under contract to DoD. The restriction does not apply if the FFRDC has a DoD-approved conflict of interest policy for its members. It matters because it ties funding eligibility to how the FFRDC manages overlapping board service.
Applies to: DoD Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs) and their board members
What it requires
- Have a DoD-approved conflict of interest policy for board members if a board member also serves on the board of a profit-making company under contract to DoD
Key terms: Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) · board of directors or trustees · profit-making company under contract to DoD · DoD-approved conflict of interest policy
Written by AI from this section's text. A guide, not legal advice: the text below rules.
The text
(a) Policy. (2) No DoD fiscal year 1992 or later funds may be obligated or expended to finance activities of a DoD Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) if a member of its board of directors or trustees simultaneously serves on the board of directors or trustees of a profit-making company under contract to DoD, unless the FFRDC has a DoD-approved conflict of interest policy for its members (section 8107 of Pub. L. 102-172 and similar sections in subsequent Defense appropriations acts).
← 235.016 Broad agency announcement. · 235.017-1 Sponsoring agreements. →
Rule changes for DFARS Part 235
- Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement: Disclosure of DoD Funding in Technical Publications (DFARS Case 2024-D003) ↗ · proposed 2025-08-25 · comments due 2025-10-24
- Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement: Public Access to Results of Federally Funded Research (DFARS Case 2020-D028) ↗ · proposed 2025-07-18
- Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement: Public Access to Results of Federally Funded Research (2020-D028) ↗ · proposed 2024-09-26 · comments due 2024-11-25
Source: eCFR, 48 CFR chapters 1 and 2 (GPO GovInfo bulk data) ↗. Plain words for the terms: glossary.