Conflict of Interest (COI)

Are you ready to submit your COI disclosure? Click here.

Do you need more information about COI?

• COI for Faculty
• COI for Research Administrator
• COI for Graduate Students

Why is COI important?

COI policies and regulations protect:

• the design, conduct and reporting of research from bias;
  • Read about Andrew Wakefield , who may have been influenced by outside compensation in suggesting a link between autism and the MMR vaccine
• the safety and rights of human subjects;
  • Read about Jessie Gelsinger, a teenager who died during a gene transfer study where the lead investigator may have had a financial stake in the outcome of the study.
• the academic rights and scholarly work of graduate students;
• Rice’s 501(c)(3) status by helping ensure that university resources are used for educational rather than business purposes;
• the reputation of Rice and its faculty, students and personnel; and
• the continuation of Rice’s federal funding from sponsored research awards and other sources.
  • Read the University of Connecticut, where in 2015 all expenditures for NSF awards were frozen due to faculty members’ use of of award funds to purchase equipment from a company they control

Faculty Conflicts Committee

Policy 218 provides that the Faculty Conflicts Committee (FCC) will be responsible for: (a) affirming or disputing identifications of COIs; and (b) recommending whether COIs can be managed or must be eliminated.

FCC Members