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Policies & Guidelines

Conflict of Interest Policies & Guidance

Northwestern University Conflict of Interest Policies

Additional Guidelines and Guidance

One-page Guide to Research COI Processes If you are new to Northwestern or want a short overview of what the requirements are for research, start here.
Faculty Consulting Agreements Consultant agreements are private endeavors and the University does not review or provide legal advice for these agreements. This resource provides some guidance on considering consulting contracts.
Guidelines for Managing Investigator COIs in Research Involving Humans This document outlines typical management strategies and considerations for scenarios including receiving payments from the sponsor of the study, and being the inventor of the technology being tested in a study.
Navigating COI Issues When Faculty Start-up Companies Engage in University Research Start-up companies looking to partner with Northwestern on a research project (e.g., via an SBIR/STTR) often creates situations that need to be carefully managed. This resource provides guidance on how to ensure appropriate approvals, management, and processes are in place before initiating a project.
Guidance on Export Controls and International Compliance Office for Research guidance on federal regulations that apply to research.
Facilitating Research Where Institutional Conflicts of Interest Exist Conflicts can arise from individual interests and institutional interests, e.g., investment by Northwestern in a start-up company. This document describes situations that could be perceived as an Institutional COI and management strategies that may be implemented to manage them.
Research Subject to Northwestern's Research Conflict of Interest (COI) Disclosure RequirementsThis document lists the categories of research and sponsors that are subject to the Conflict of Interest in Research policy at Northwestern.
Student-Faculty Agreement - Student Engagement in Faculty EnterprisesIf a faculty member would like to engage one of their students in their outside activities, please review and complete this form, and send it to your dean's office for approval.
FAQs related to the Sunshine Act The Sunshine Act, or Physician Payments Act requires pharmaceutical companies to make public disclosures of payments made to physicians for various activities. This document provides FAQs for physicians about this Act. For additional questions, please contact Feinberg's Office of Regulatory Affairs at fsm-compliance@northwestern.edu