Disclosure Requirements (Conflicts of Interest and Commitment)
The Conflict of Interest (COI) Program manages financial Conflicts of Interest disclosures for faculty, researchers, and University Officials. The program also manages Conflicts of Commitment disclosures for all full-time faculty, including teaching faculty and research faculty. Transparency and disclosure help both you and the University comply with federal regulations while maintaining research objectivity and public trust.
A conflict of interest typically involves financial or monetary conflicts. It can happen when your external financial interests have the potential to influence your decisions in your role at the University, resulting in some type of gain (financial or non-financial) for you or your family. For example, owning stock in a company that could potentially benefit from the results of your federally funded University research could be perceived as a conflict of interest.
A conflict of commitment can occur when you engage in outside professional activities, either paid or unpaid, that conflict or appear to conflict with your responsibilities at the University. For example, teaching at another institution during your appointment period is an outside professional activity that has the potential to result in a conflict of commitment.
Conflicts of interest and commitment do not necessarily need to be eliminated, but they do need to be managed. Being fully transparent in your disclosure is important so that any real or perceived conflicts can be appropriately managed. The goal of management is to not only protect yourself and the University, but also to protect the integrity of research.
All faculty are required to disclose outside financial interests and outside professional activities per federal regulations and University policies. Disclosures occur at least annually and within 30 days of acquiring a new outside financial interest or starting a new outside professional activity.
See the Faculty Outside Activities and Disclosure Guide on our website. Links to an external site.
References
1https://www.research.psu.edu/coi Links to an external site.