Conflicts of interest

If you have an interest (be it financial or personal) in a spinout, startup or other external venture with a connection to your academic work, you are required to take certain steps to manage your conflicts of interests (see Appendix A of the Policy).

• Appendix A of the Policy  
• Commercialising your research
• Handbook for University staff who are forming or joining a company 

If you have a financial interest in the licensee (or proposed licensee) of University intellectual property you should disclose this, and step back from the negotiations, which should be managed by the IP Rights Management Team and Oxford University Innovation.

• Intellectual property guidance

If you are involved in the procurement of goods and services, you should not take part in any purchasing decision where you have a personal relationship with, or another connection to, one of the other parties involved.

• Purchasing guidance

If you are involved in complex commercial transactions and arrangements (such as a research or commercialisation venture or the development of a capital project) you should be aware of your different interests and activities, and be able to distinguish between the responsibilities that come with each of these. In addition to ensuring that the relevant people in the department, division and support services are kept up-to-date, due diligence needs to be undertaken before setting up agreements or other collaborations.

All conflicts should be declared when applying for grants, negotiating contracts, submitting manuscripts for publication etc. You also need to ensure that you comply with the requirements of funding bodies.

• Specific requirements for researchers (Appendix A of Policy)
• Actions required through the research lifecycle
• Compliance with external requirements (including US NIH regulations)

If you hold any outside appointments you will need to avoid the conflicts of interest that can arise if these appointments compete with your University role. Approval needs to be sought before taking on an outside appointment.

• Guidance notes for the holding of outside appointments
• University policy and procedures for consultancy work (SSO)

If you are involved in admissions, recruitment or contract negotiation you should neither deal with, nor make decisions about, applicants or other parties in negotiations that are known to you.

Guidance on admissions and recruitment.