Conflict of Interest in
Research and Intellectual Property

UTSA encourages and supports outside interactions of its faculty and student employees with federal, state, and local governments, and with business and industry as important parts of their research, education, and public service activities.

Since outside interactions also carry with them an increased potential for conflicts of interest, the Office of Research Integrity & Compliance works closely with the Office of Institutional Compliance and Risk Management to inform University personnel about conflicts of interest policies and procedures.

A Conflict of Interest...

• is a situation in which financial or other personal considerations may compromise or have the appearance of compromising an employee's professional judgment in administration, management, teaching, research or any other professional activities.

A Conflict of Interest can occur...

• when an opportunity arises to influence UTSA's business decisions, which produces personal financial gain for an academic employee, thus potentially compromising the integrity of decisions they may make as researchers, teachers, and providers of service in consideration of personal financial interests.
• when an employee has a significant financial interest in a company that is providing funding for the employee's research or other University activity.
• when research directly and significantly affects the financial interest of an employee responsible for the conduct of their research project, and the mere appearance of a conflict of interest can undermine public trust in ways that may not be adequately restored even when the mitigating facts of situation are revealed.

Examples of allowable activities
Examples of conflicts that may occur when there are research related financial interests
Examples of activities which may require management