Conflicts of Interest

Many faculty get offended at the suggestion that they might have any conflicts of interest, but it is natural that as you take on more roles your aims might not always align. As a scientist, you may be committed to cutting-edge research. As UVA faculty, you wish to see your research widely disseminated; however, as a company founder, you might feel this provides too much information to the competition. Even your research focus might become conflicted: basic or applied? Conflicts of interest are inevitable, but as long as they are acknowledged they can be managed. For example, you can immediately publish the basic research you conduct at UVA while delaying the publication of the applied research conducted on company time.

In this section, some common conflicts of interest that you as a faculty entrepreneur will encounter will be discussed. Some are addressed by institutional policies and some are the subject of state law, but for all cases Spinner Technologies can provide you with help in satisfying all conflicts requirements.