New EPFL policy on Conflicts of Interest applicable to U.S. grants
© 2014 EPFL
The EPFL Direction has adopted a new EPFL policy on conflicts of interest in Public Health Service-funded research. The policy contains specific rules on the declaration of financial interests in research projects funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) and Susan G. Komen (among others).
EPFL is committed to maintain the public's trust in the fact that research is independent and objective as well as conducted according to the highest ethical and scientific standards. Conflicts of interest in research may undermine this objective. Indeed, financial interests of a researcher may bias or have the appearance of biasing the design, conduct or reporting of research. It is therefore essential to identify possible conflicts of interest and to manage them appropriately.
Therefore, EPFL has appropriate rules on conflicts of interest and ethics in place. In addition, the EPFL Direction has adopted a new EPFL POLICY on CONFLICTS OF INTEREST in PHS-FUNDED RESEARCH on February 17th, 2014, upon proposition of the Research Office.
As a researcher who intends to apply for NIH/JDRF/Komen funding, you have to comply with the following obligations:
1. Fill in and send the Research Office a Significant Financial Interest Disclosure Form, 30 days before proposal submission and every year during the project (before March 1st).
2. Follow the EPFL Financial Conflicts of Interest Course provided by CITI every 4 years.
The Research Office is your contact point for all questions related to this new policy. For more details, we invite you to visit our webpage about NIH and our general webpage about U.S. federal agencies.
All other rules on conflicts of interest and ethics continue to apply in parallel to these new rules.