Category

Conflict of Interest

Information on required conflict of interest and commitment disclosures, undue foreign interference, types of sponsored research agreements, and available training.

2025 Federal Administration Transition Information & Resources - This will be updated as new information is available.

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3 Topics

  • COI: Disclosure and Review Procedures

    New NIH requirement for providing copies of agreement(s) related to employment or certain appointments with non-US entities Introduction Stanford University provides two different web-based applications to facilitate the disclosure and management of potential conflicts of commitment and interest. Annually, all faculty at Stanford are required to certify their understanding of and compliance with

    September 11, 2024

  • COI: Conflicts of Interest Overview

    Faculty may complete their disclosure of outside professional activities and consulting at opacs.stanford.edu. This overview contains a brief review of the policies and procedures associated with the disclosure and management of conflicts of commitment and interest at Stanford University. This page also includes information to help identify and mitigate potential conflicts.

    April 2, 2025

  • COI: Training and Other Information

    COI Training COI Training Slide Deck Changes to Annual Disclosures of Outside Professional Activities Starting January 2025, Stanford will transition its annual disclosure process for outside professional activities from an annual static cycle (in spring) to a rolling 12-month cycle. This change is designed to enable more timely certifications while reducing and streamlining the peak workload

    April 9, 2025

3 How Tos

  • How To

    Certify on My Professional Outside Activities

    OPACS certifies compliance with the Faculty Policy on Conflict of Commitment and Interest. The system has been redesigned so information reported during previous years will not need to be re-entered. Upon certification of the annual disclosure, the data will remain in OPACS for future annual and transactional disclosures. To help with this process, a PDF of past annual disclosures can be

    March 25, 2025

  • How To

    Faculty Investment in Stanford Student Companies

    Are faculty permitted to invest in start-up companies of current Stanford University students? All faculty should consider carefully whether investing in any current student or postdoctoral fellow’s company is in the best educational interest of the student or fellow, whether or not the faculty member has any involvement with the student’s academic program. However, a higher standard applies when

    April 27, 2021

  • How To

    Disclose Travel Reimbursed by a Company When You Have PHS Funded Research

    PHS-funded investigators must disclose travel that is related to their Stanford duties and responsibilities in the Outside Professional Activities Certification System (OPACS). Click on Travel in the left-hand column. Follow the instructions on the travel disclosure form. Note that your initial disclosure must include reimbursed or sponsored travel received in the preceding twelve months.

    September 15, 2023

4 Forms & Tools

  • Guide

    Tips for Managing Your Outside Professional Activities To Avoid Conflicts of Commitment and Interest

    Introduction Stanford faculty owe their primary professional allegiance to the University, and their primary commitment of time and intellectual energies should be to the education, research, and scholarship missions of the institution. Outside professional activities can result in allocations of time and energies which represent conflicts of commitment. In addition, these activities can result in

    March 19, 2025

  • FAQ

    Frequently Asked Questions about the OPACS Application

    This page addresses possible questions about the operation of this online reporting and certification application (called Outside Professional Activities Certification System, or OPACS). The answers on this page are intended to help you quickly, easily, and accurately file your required annual report on and certification of compliance with the Faculty Policy on Conflict of Commitment and Interest

    April 13, 2021

  • Guide

    Best Practices for Faculty Start-Ups

    Stanford is committed to avoiding either perceived or actual conflict of interest issues with respect to faculty start-ups. Both Stanford and faculty have responsibilities to optimize technology transfer and mitigate COI whenever licensing Stanford intellectual property to a faculty start-up is considered. University/Office of Technology Licensing (OTL) Responsibilities Make licensing decisions

    April 15, 2021

  • Reference List

    COI: Contacts List by School

    Graduate School of Business Amit Seru, Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, aseru@stanford.edu, (650) 736-0223 Jesper Sørensen, Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, sorensen@stanford.edu, (650) 736-9687 Charlotte Toksvig, Assistant Dean, Academic Administration, ctoksvig@stanford.edu, (650) 721-2586 Doerr School of Sustainability Jonathan Payne, Senior Associate Dean for Faculty

    February 19, 2025