A Qatari satellite campus of Texas A&M University produces research that belongs to the country's government, according to a Wednesday report.
Texas A&M University at Qatar, or TAMUQ, produces research on several subjects, including computer science and bioengineering, all the rights of which belong to the Qatar Foundation, a nonprofit that the Qatari royal family owns.
"The Qatar Foundation shall own the entire right, title, and interest in all Technology and Intellectual Property developed at TAMUQ or under the auspices of its Research Program, other than those developed by non-TAMUQ employees and without financial support from the Qatar Foundation or any of its affiliates," reads a May 2021 contract between the university and the foundation, which the Free Press obtained.
The foundation pays the salaries of faculty and staff, and for buildings, labs, equipment, and other operating costs for the campus, Texas A&M spokeswoman Kelly Brown told the Free Press.
The university is one of the best in America for studying nuclear engineering, but Brown also stressed to the outlet that TAMUQ has no "agreements, contracts, or relationships related to nuclear research. Not now, or previously."
"Further, Texas A&M Qatar faculty never taught nuclear engineering courses, nor did it do any research involving nuclear engineering," Brown added.
A web page explaining the experience of studying abroad at the Doha campus lists nuclear engineering as a course offering for students, but Brown said that it means students majoring in nuclear engineering can take courses that help fulfill their degree that are not directly related to the field.
"All engineering majors can take some relevant courses in Doha, depending on their progress through the degree plan," Brown told the Free Press. "TAMUQ does not offer any courses in nuclear engineering."
Still, experts told the outlet that the university's relationship with Qatar, which harbors Hamas leadership and has ties to Iran, could be dangerous for American national security given that its government would own the rights to research from a major American university.
"Because Texas A&M has unsecured systems between Qatar and the university, Iranians could obtain U.S. secrets from this database, and that’s what we are trying to find out," the pro-Israel Zachor Legal Institute's Marc Greendorfer said. His organization spent years attempting to gain access to the now-released contract, which the Qatar Foundation attempted to keep sealed on the grounds that it represented a trade secret. Last year, Zachor won out in litigation and gained access to the contract.
"Unlike traditional university research partnerships, where the university typically retains ownership of the research, in this case it appears the Qatari government maintains significant influence over both the research itself and its ultimate application," said the Foundation for Defense of Democracies's Craig Singleton. He said the agreement effectively makes researchers "worker bees" for the government.
The report comes nearly three months after Hamas's Oct. 7 terror attacks on Israel, which killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians. Qatar has come under scrutiny since the attacks given its relationship with the terror group. Its state-funded news outlet, Al Jazeera, received criticism in November from Rep. Jack Bergman (R., Mich.), who accused it of giving anti-Israel coverage that inflames tensions in the Middle East.