"Leo Szumel" wrote

What we'd like to do is use amateur radio for some university research
projects.

I don't see a problem with that, as research is what interests Amateurs.

Specifically, we would like to use AR equipment in sensor
network research. Sensor networks are basically like APRS without people
at the transmit nodes, and more than just position information is
reported (maybe temperature, etc). Also, multi-hop relay may be employed.

Conducted every day.

I've examined Part 97 rules and tried to read as many applicable threads
as possible. My interpretation is that:

(a) automated transmissions are OK (with caveats)

If you don't use a specified code, you must identify using a specified code.
For example, if you design your own protocol (unspecified code), then you
should design the system to ID every 10 minutes, or every transmission.

(b) AR can be used for educational (non-commercial) purposes

See below

(c) AR can be used for data transmissions, using encrypted
authentication, provided the data payload is unencrypted

Yes. Phil Karn proposed a DES authentication many years ago, however, I
don't see why just a plain old MD5 checksum of the data and the time-stamp
wouldn't fit most requirements.

Part (b) is the most shaky becaues it seems to dependon "reasonable use"
and other gray terms. Certainly my proposed use is not "hobby" but it
seems to me to fall into the category of "experimentation" and
(hopefully) "advancing the field."

I don't see a problem in what you are proposing, and I think you could enlist
several amateurs who wanted to help. It goes without saying, that you would
need a ham license yourself, but that is pretty simple these days on a no-code
ticket.

Even if the money you use to buy the equipment, and power the equipment,
is grant money, it would be legal. Where you would begin to have problems,
is if you made the data proprietary, or sold subscriptions/membership/access
to say web sites where the data is stored. You could maintain a compilation
type copyright, and restrict access to the raw data and software, if you provided
say access to the processed data. I'm being vague, but the gist of it, is that you
can't make money, and I never heard of a research program that did.

73,

Steve