Guidance Relating to Faculty Interactions with Industry

The purpose of this guidance is to promote productive relationships between Duke University faculty and commercial entities while protecting Duke and the faculty member’sreputation and independence. The types of conflicts that may arise when a faculty member has a personal connectiontoa commercial entity belong to two main categories: Conflicts of commitment and Conflicts of interest.

Please keep in mind that the existence of a conflict is not always obvious. Therefore, if you have any uncertainty please contact the Research Integrity Office for assistance.

  1. Conflicts of Commitment

a.A conflict of commitment occurs whena faculty member has a relationship with an external entity that requires a commitment of time or effort to non-university activities or enterprises, such that the faculty member, either implicitly or directly, cannot meet his or her usual obligations to the University.

b.Generally, faculty members should adhere to the following parameters to avoid engagements with industry creating conflicts of commitment:

  • Avoid roles with regular operating duties orroles that infer you represent the company, such as that of a corporate officer, as the associated responsibilities tend to require a substantial time commitment. Examples of such titles may include, but are not limited to; President, Vice-President, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Technical Officer, Chief Operations Officer, Scientific Director and Medical Director. (Exceptions may exist for faculty serving as officers of a shell company.)
  • Avoid relationships with outside entities that require frequent and/or prolonged absence, i.e. on average more than one day per week, from the University.
  1. Conflicts of Interest
  2. A conflict of interestarises when a secondary objective could affect the performance of a faculty member’s primary mission.Thus a relationship with a commercial entity may restrict your participation in research sponsored by or affecting that commercial entity. Please refer to the Financial Conflict of Interest Policy in Appendix O of the Duke University Faculty Handbook, located at
  1. During funded research, faculty members must have final authority over the design and control of research at all times, regardless of how the outcome may affect the sponsor or any other company with which the faculty member has a relationship.
  2. When research involving human participants is sponsored by a commercial entity with which a faculty member working on the research project has a relationship, enhanced scrutiny is warranted and the faculty member may be prohibited from working on such research.
  1. Faculty Spin-off Exceptions
  2. There may be times when the best method of commercializing new technologies and therapies is through a start-up company founded by, or closely connected to, a Duke faculty member. Thus, certain exceptions to the rule against faculty members having operational roles or financial interests in commercial entities exist to encourage the translation of innovations for the public good.
  1. When a faculty start-up exception exists, there must be a clear separation between a faculty member’s research funded by the University (especially when funded by the federal government) and research sponsored by the faculty-owned company. This must include separate workspaces, research records, and expenses/budgets. No overlap should exist between the research a faculty member conducts as a University employee and the subject matter of his or her commercial entity.
  2. When faculty members spin off intellectual property into start-up companies that are effectively ‘shell entities’ created to hold IP, the time commitment required to serve as a corporate officermay be modest and insufficient to constitute a conflict of commitment. However, once the start-up company reaches a certain size, operational personnel for the start-up should be hired and the faculty member moved to a non-operational role.
  3. The government’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR)programs award grants to U.S.-based, for-profit small businesses, otherwise known assmall business concerns, or “SBCs.”Please refer to more information.
  4. The Duke University name or logo should not be used by a faculty member in his or her start-up company for any purpose unless specific permission to do so is obtained through Duke’s Director of Trademark Licensing. Furthermore, employees may not use Duke Facilities, equipment, or services to operate faculty-owned start-ups or for personal gain.