Policy on Conflict of Interest
Appendix 1: Managing Conflict
It is not possible to provide a comprehensive definition of circumstances that necessarily give rise to conflict of interest. In any situation where the member of staff is uncertain as to the propriety of a given arrangement, advice should be sought from the individual’s Head of School / Head of Department who may refer to the University Ethics Committee.
The overall test is that the associations made, and actions permitted, could be successfully justified to a sceptical member of the public.
1. General Examples
Members of staff often undertake multiple roles (as, for example, employees of Bangor University, members of the community, and/or Directors, shareholders or consultants in a spin-out company. Fulfilling such multiple roles may create (or appear to create) a conflict with the staff member’s primary obligations towards, and allegiance to, Bangor University.
It should be noted that the Companies Act 2006 introduced a new element to directors’ duties by way of section 175(1). It states that a director must avoid a situation in which he/she has, or can have a direct or indirect interest that conflicts, or may possibly conflict with the interests of the company.
Some general examples include:
[a] Making use of the University’s research or administrative facilities to pursue personal business, commercial or consulting activities;
[b] Attempting to restrict rights governing the timing and content of publications in circumstances properly approved by the University to protect privacy, commercially sensitive information and patentable inventions;
[c] Involvement in externally funded activities which might infringe on the rights of a student to complete a degree for which he or she is registered and/or publish freely or seek patent protection for his or her findings (save in the circumstances referred to in [b] above);
[d] Holding a financial interest in an external enterprise which carries out activities closely related to an individual’s duties at the University. Examples are consultancies, paid service on a board of directors or advisory board or equity held in or royalty income from an enterprise. These do not necessarily involve conflict of interest but may give an appearance of conflict, and so should be declared;
[e] Involvement, on behalf of a company, in placing or negotiating a contract with the University or involvement in research or some other activity which the contract may cover;
[f] Dependence on a particular company for research funding to the extent that may result in the company influencing, either formally or informally, the direction of the research or dissemination of results;
[g] Application by family members or friends for employment in the University or in a related company, where a Council or Staff member is in a position to influence the appointment
[h] Receiving gifts or hospitality from a company or organisation with which the University has a business relationship;
2. Specific Examples
The following consist of a number of specific circumstances which may give rise to a conflict of interest.
2.1 External Appointments
Directorships and other appointments outside Bangor University are referred to below as “External Appointments”. Certain restrictions in relation to the acceptance of External Appointments, and restrictions on a Bangor University member of staff engaging in activities where they have an External Appointment, are described later in this Appendix.
Whenever a member of staff accepts an external position or appointment, a potential conflict of interest may arise.
For example:
- The Director of a company (i.e. a member of the Board of Directors) has fiduciary duties to the company (e.g. to act in the best interests of the company), which may, as a matter of law, go beyond the duties of an ordinary member of staff or consultant.
- Other appointments, such as, trustees of a charity or other trust, or membership of certain external committees, may create similar duties. These duties may arise without there being any formal contract in place.
- Where a member of staff is a Director of a company that sponsors research at Bangor University, his or her legal duties as a Director may conflict with his or her duties as a Bangor University member of staff, regardless of whether the member of staff receives payment for services.
2.2 Research integrity
[a] Principles
University members of staff should maintain the highest standards of scientific integrity in the conduct of research. Dissemination of results should be objective and timely. Dissemination includes publication in a journal or book, information placed on the web, conference presentations or any other kind of communication.
[b] Possible Situations
Conflict of interest can arise in a number of situations, for example:
- The researcher has a Financial Interest (see point 2.4 below) in the company sponsoring the research, this being exacerbated if the value of the researcher’s Financial Interest may be affected by the outcome of the research.
- The researcher is an inventor of patents whose value may be affected by the outcome of the research.
- The researcher holds a position in an enterprise (e.g. as Director) that may wish to restrict (or otherwise manage) adverse research findings for commercial reasons.
- The preservation of research integrity must be largely dependent on self-regulation. The primary way to encourage appropriate conduct is to promote and maintain a climate consistent with high ethical standards. The fundamental factor in ensuring the quality of research and research practise has to be the honesty of the individual investigator.
However, where a researcher has, or appears to have a conflict of interest, (for example, because he or she has a Financial Interest in a research sponsor) integrity in designing, conducting and reporting the research may be insufficient to protect the researcher and the University from suspicion and consequent reputational damage. In such cases researchers must take special measures to put themselves beyond suspicion.
[c] Management
Where any member of staff has a conflict of interest in the area of research they should:
- Before the research project is accepted (i.e. contractual arrangements agreed) disclose to and seek written approval from their Head of School who may refer the matter to the University Ethics Committee. The disclosure should be in the form of a written memorandum that states the nature of the research, the staff and students who will be involved in conducting the research and the potential conflict and the method proposed to manage the conflict.
- Play no part whatsoever in the negotiation of the financial terms of the research contract, either as an agent of the University or the sponsor.
- At the time of submission of a publication to a journal, comply with any conflict of interest policy of the relevant journal.
Make a similar form of disclosure on all other forms of publication.
Conflict of this kind should be managed or avoided in a number of ways:
- By declining the opportunity to conduct the research, instead arranging for the work to be carried out by an independent researcher, either in the University or elsewhere;
- By appointing a co-investigator who has control over the design and analysis of the research and its results, or an oversight committee.
2.3 Teaching and supervising research students
While the following guidelines refer to research students, many of the same points also apply to junior academic members of staff and research assistants.
Principles
Members of staff must take care when selecting research students in circumstances where the student receives support from (i.e. is sponsored by) a company in which the proposed academic supervisor has a Financial Interest. Care must also be taken to ensure that the choice of a student’s research project and the direction of that research is not, and does not appear to be, influenced by a supervisor’s financial interests. Conflict of interest my also arise in relation to the result of a research project where the research is related to the activities of a company in which the supervisor has a Financial Interest. Such situations are extremely difficult to monitor and both the supervisor and the University are vulnerable to allegations that the student’s research (and advice given on other issues e.g. IP) was directed in a way that was not in the student’s best interests.
Conflict and its management
A possible approach to managing conflict in such circumstances is to identify an alternative member of the academic staff, who has no Financial Interest to act as the student’s supervisor. In such cases the individual with a conflict of interest should not involve him/herself in the project except through the alternative member of staff. However the University also recognises that it is to a student’s advantage to be supervised by the member of academic staff with the greatest relevant expertise, and that, in a very few circumstances, this may require a student to be supervised by a member of staff with a Financial Interest in the sponsoring organisation. In such circumstances approval must be sought from the Head of College. Where such approval is granted certain conditions must be imposed
[i] Before embarking on a research project a student must be provided with a clear description of:
- The source of the sponsorship for the research to be undertaken, and
- Any personal financial interest the supervisor has in a sponsor; and
- Any restrictions that might be imposed on the scientific communication of the data by the sponsor, and
- Any rights that the sponsor may have to any intellectual property generated in the course of the project.
[ii] The second supervisor should not have any connection with or interest in the sponsoring company (whether by way of Shares or Consulting Fees).
Increasingly, students themselves start businesses whilst still at university. No member of staff who is in a position to judge the quality of that student’s work or to evaluate the student in any way should take any Financial Stake or hold a Formal Position in such a student-run, owned or controlled venture whilst the student is enrolled at Bangor University. Financial Stake means equity, option or any form of interest in such ventures. Formal Position means a member of the Board of Directors, acting as a paid consultant or employee or executive of the venture.
2.4 Financial interest
Principles
Bangor University staff have a responsibility to respect and promote the financial interests of the University. Wherever possible, they should ensure that the University receives appropriate financial benefits:
- from the provision of research services including consultancy and other services conducted through the University;
- from the use or commercialisation of its intellectual property;
- from the use of other resources and assets, including equipment, technical staff, facilities, and
They should make responsible use of its financial resources in relation to the purchase of goods as specified in the University’s Financial Regulations.
Definition
[a] “Financial Interest” includes the following items received or held by a member of staff:-
- Shares, share options, warrants and other securities and security interests (together referred to below as “shares”) in a company;
- Payments for service e.g. consulting fees, directors fees, stipends and honoraria or payments in kind (together referred to below as “consultancy fees”) and;
- Payments in respect of intellectual property, including licence fees, royalties and revenue-sharing arrangements, except those payments made under Bangor University’s royalty sharing scheme.
Certain minimum thresholds apply to the definition of Financial Interests:
[b] Where a financial interest consists of shares, it will be treated as excluded from the definition of Financial Interests where each of the following conditions is met:
- The shares are held in a company that is listed on a recognised stock exchange;
- There is no relationship or connection, explicit or implicit, between the acquisition of the shares and any research to be conducted for that company;
[c] Where a financial interest consists of consultancy fees, it will be treated as excluded from the definition if both of the following conditions are met:
- It can be reasonably demonstrated that payment of any fee is not related to or contingent on the award of the proposed relationship between Bangor University and the company (e.g. a research contract or sponsored studentship as mentioned in Appendix 1 below).
Management
Relationship with another organisation e.g. as share-holder of a spin-out company, may create financial responsibilities which conflict with a staff member’s financial responsibilities towards the University.
Such potential conflict should be managed in a number of ways, including:
- seeking formal permission from the Head of College /Department, describing the nature of the proposed relationship. If the Head of College/Department believes that the conflict created by the proposed arrangements is manageable and that the use of any University resource will not conflict with academic priorities, they may approve the arrangement in writing. If the Head of College / Department is in any doubt as to whether a conflict exists, he/she may refer the matter to the University Ethics Committee. If such approval is given, either by the Committee or the Head of College/Department, then the arrangement will be formalised and an appropriate fee may be levied for the resource to be used.
- Contracts with external organisation, including their financial terms, being negotiated by the appropriate central department (e.g. Finance Office) with the employee playing no part whatsoever in such negotiations;
- Disclosing (if necessary under confidentiality) and seeking a waiver through University Innovation Bangor in respect of all inventions or other IP generated by the individual as part of (for example) a private consultancy.
- Where University members of staff provide consultancy services, by conducting that consultancy through the University. Further guidance on consultancy is set out in the University’s Consultancy Policy.
- Where goods or services are to be purchased from a business in which an employee has any Financial Interest, then such interest should be declared to the Director of Finance.
2.5 Conflict of commitment/loyalty
Principles
University members of staff owe their primary commitment and allegiance to the University. Membership of Committees, Boards, Advisory Groups etc. (External Appointments) implies an obligation (and sometimes a statutory duty) to acting the best interests of the external body. These duties may overlap with those duties and obligations as members of staff of the University. Where an External Appointment exists, or is allowed under the Consultancy Policy or otherwise allowed by the University this does not absolve the member of staff from ensuring that he or she continues to give their primary commitment and allegiance to the University.
Management
Rules applying to the acceptance of external appointments and the conduct of non-academic work, including limits on the amount of time that may be devoted to such activities are set out in the Consultancy Policy. The scheduling of commitments to such external bodies should be such that they do not result in significant rescheduling of lectures, tutorials or other supervisory or management duties.
Where a University member of staff is involved in founding a new company, he or she may be inducted to dedicate more time to it than is consistent with their duties to the University. This risk can be reduced by entrusting that appropriate people are employed by the company to manage and direct both its business and scientific activities, with the University member of staff’s role being limited to consultancy. Alternatively the University member of staff may be able to arrange unpaid leave of absence from the University for a period of time so that they can dedicate themselves full-time to the company.
In exceptional circumstances, it may be acceptable to the University to permit academic staff to devote significant time to an external appointment, for example where such absence can be shown to be short-term, non-disruptive to the member of staff’s other duties and of clear benefit to the University. Further guidance on how Heads of School / Department should deal with such cases can be found in the University’s Consultancy Policy.