Shimojo Lab Conflicts of Interest Policy:
The Shimojo lab in Biology and Biological Engineering follows the Caltech policy of Conflicts
of Interest.
Caltech policy:
The mission of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) is to expand human knowledge and benefit society through research integrated with education. In pursuit of this mission, Caltech adheres to the Eleven Principles comprising its code of conduct and strives for the highest level of integrity and public confidence. Caltech’s integrity rests on the personal integrity of each of us who is called upon to act on behalf of the Institute. Caltech is committed to ensuring that decisions made on its behalf reflect the highest ethical standards and that its research and instruction remain a rigorous and open inquiry, unencumbered by conflicts of interest, real or perceived, that might affect the sound judgment of the trustees, officers, senior management, faculty, students and staff. Each of us, therefore, is responsible for identifying and resolving conflicts between personal and Institutional interests. We each must act in the best interests of the Institute and refrain from taking part in any transaction where we do not believe in good faith that we can act impartially. Individual conflicts of interest may affect the Institute’s trustees, officers, faculty, or staff. An individual conflict of interest is a situation that may compromise an individual’s professional judgment in carrying out Institute business due to an external relationship that directly or indirectly affects the interest of the individual or an immediate family member. Each situation that presents a potential for conflict of interest must be fully disclosed to the Institute, and managed or eliminated before moving forward. Conflicts of interest also include conflicts of commitment which are situations in which external activities, either paid or unpaid, interfere with an employee’s primary obligation and commitment to the Institute. In academic research, the term conflict of interest refers especially to situations in which financial or other personal considerations may compromise, or may have the appearance of compromising, an investigator’s professional judgment in conducting or reporting research. The bias can affect collection, analysis, and interpretation of data, hiring of staff, procurement of materials, sharing of results, choice of protocol, and the use of statistical methods. Conflicts of interest can affect all scholarly fields.
More information can be found at the Caltech website: http://hr.caltech.edu/services/policies, under Conflicts of Interest. For details about the Eleven Principles visit this website: http://codeofconduct.caltech.edu/ .
How do you to report it?
If you experience or observe Conflicts of Interest, please report directly to Professor Shinsuke Shimojo (sshimojo@caltech.edu).