All Staff have a responsibility to declare any work-related external interests that could present a Conflict of Interest.

What is a Conflict of Interest?

A Conflict of Interest arises when your duties to the University may be influenced by a secondary interest—such as personal interests or commitments to other organisations.

This includes:

• Research collaborations (formal or informal)
• Consultancy or funding arrangements
• External roles or affiliations (paid or unpaid)

The Conflicts of Interest Policy outlines how to identify, report, and manage these situations to protect you, your colleagues, and the University.

What do you need to do now?

For staff at Level 5 and above:

• Complete the annual Conflicts of Interest Declaration before 31 August, even if you have nothing to declare.

For all staff:

• Review and update your Register of Interests in MyView with any relevant external interests or affiliations.

If a potential or actual conflict is identified, you and your line manager must agree on a Conflict Management Plan.

See the process summary diagram for an overview of the process.

Visit the Conflicts of Interest Policy and Guidance website for examples of what to declare.

Personal relationships

If you have a personal or intimate relationship with someone who works for or with the University, you may need to declare it – depending on your professional relationship.

The University strongly discourages relationships with students, and these must always be disclosed.

Please read the Personal Relationships Guidance

Further information, training and support

• Conflicts of Interest Process Summary
• Conflicts of Interest Policy and Guidance website
• Personal Relationships Policy and Guidance website

There are two videos that have been created by the Research Integrity and Compliance Office (RICO):

• Conflicts of Interest – this video will explain where to register external interests and what may be considered a Conflict of Interest.
• Conflict Management Plan – this video will explain where you can find the conflict management and what needs to be considered to mitigate actual and potential conflicts.

You can access the videos at Conflict of Interest training SharePoint page.

If in doubt, always Disclose.

If you have questions about completing any of the above, please contact Ask HR.

If you have questions about the Conflicts of Interest policy or training videos, please contact the Research Integrity and Compliance Office (RICO) at researchintegrity@soton.ac.uk. A Manager Briefing Sheet on this topic will be issued next week and will be accessible to all staff on SharePoint.