What constitutes conflict of interest in research?
UTS Conflicts of Interest Disclosure Policy
Research conflicts
Conflicts of interest may arise where a person’s research, research engagement responsibilities or any relevant research contracts or ethics processes, conflict with their personal, private or professional interests.
In line with the Research Policy and the Research Management Procedure (SharePoint), researchers must be aware of all potential conflicts and/or other spheres of influence that may arise during the undertaking of any research-related activities. These must be disclosed to meet both internal and external requirements including those of funding bodies (refer Disclosure and management of conflicts of interest (SharePoint)).
This includes the university’s actual, potential or perceived conflicts arising from research that forms part of an onshore research project or international activities (refer below) with external partners, funding bodies and organisations.
Examples of conflict include:
- a researcher holds a position, appointment or a financial interest with an external organisation to whom UTS is submitting an application or is being contracted by that organisation
- intellectual property (IP) has been assigned to a researcher and they are working on a UTS project that utilises that assigned IP
- dealings of IP with previous students, family members, friends or close associates, and/or
- a researcher may benefit personally from decisions made by UTS in translating IP into use.
Private and professional interests
Private and professional conflicts of interest may be financial, non-financial, business interests, outside work, directorships or other office holdings, which may produce conflicting interests or obligations. Private and professional interests may be held by staff or their close associates (for example, their family or friends).
Private or professional interests may include a situation where a:
- person (or their close associate) has a financial stake, shares, interest or involvement in an external company (entity or organisation) and may be in a position (actual, perceived or potential) to influence contracts, collaborations, decisions or other interactions between that company and UTS
- professional or personal advantage may be gained due to access to information from their role (or the role of a close associate) at either UTS or the external entity that may be beneficial to the other
- professional or personal advantage may be gained due to an incumbency in role or position that may be beneficial to a future role or substantive role or position
- person engages in paid and unpaid work outside UTS (refer Outside Work Policy) and this work could adversely affect their work, responsibilities, duties or functions for UTS or give rise to a conflict or potential conflict of interest, or
- person (or their close associate) has an affiliation, or other relationship, with an external company, entity or organisation located in Australia or overseas that may result in external influence on their teaching, research or decision-making. While this may not present an actual conflict immediately under the current suite of responsibilities, the possibility that an actual conflict may arise, or the perception that
What must a researcher do to manage a conflict of interest?