COI Glossary

Design, Conduct, Reporting of ResearchOversight, decision-making, or participation in research that includes creating the structure, roles, and/or protocol of a research project; participating in the execution of the research roles and protocol; participating in the publication, presentation, or discussion of the research results.
External EntityAny non-federal entity other than the university or its components.
Financial Conflict of Interest (fCOI)
An fCOI exists when the university reasonably determines that an Investigator’s Significant Financial Interest (SFI) is Related to university research or sponsored programs and could directly and significantly affect its design, conduct, or reporting. 
Any program, position, or activity that includes compensation in the form of cash, in-kind compensation, including research funding, promised future compensation, complimentary foreign travel, things of non de minimis value, honorific titles, career advancement opportunities, or other types of remuneration or consideration directly provided by a foreign country at any level (national, provincial, or local) or their designee, or an entity based in, funded by, or affiliated with a foreign country, whether or not directly sponsored by the foreign country, to an individual, whether directly or indirectly stated in the arrangement, contract, or other documentation at issue.
Immediate FamilyThe Investigator's spouse, domestic partner, dependent children, and any persons residing in their household.
InvestigatorLehigh University personnel, regardless of title or position, responsible for the design, conduct or reporting of Lehigh University research or sponsored programs. This includes the project director or principal investigator, and any other senior/key personnel identified in a grant application, progress report, or any other report related to university research or sponsored programs.
Related

A Significant Financial Interest (SFI) is Related when a reasonable person could determine that the SFI: 

  • could be affected by the Lehigh research,
  • is in an entity whose financial interest could be affected by the research, or
  • could directly and significantly affect the design, conduct or reporting of the Lehigh research.
Significant Financial Interest (SFI)

Include the following:

  1. For a domestic or foreign publicly traded External Entity:
    1. The total value of any Remuneration received by the Investigator or their Immediate Family in the twelve months preceding the disclosure and
    2. The value of any Equity Interest in the entity as of the date of disclosure that together exceeds $5,000.
  2. For a domestic or foreign non-publicly traded External Entity:
    1. The total value of any Remuneration received by the Investigator or their Immediate Family in the twelve months preceding that exceeds $5,000 or
    2. The Investigator or their Immediate Family holds any Equity Interest, regardless of its value.
  3. Intellectual Property Income: Upon its receipt, any income received by the Investigator or their Immediate Family related to intellectual property rights and interests, except when that income is paid by Lehigh University to the Investigator or their Immediate Family.
  4. Management Positions: Any management position held by the Investigator, such as director, officer, partner, president, vice-president, or trustee, in any External Entity in the twelve months preceding the disclosure.
  5. Foreign Talent Recruitment Programs: Participation in or support received by the Investigator from a Foreign Talent Recruitment Program in the twelve months preceding the disclosure.
  6. Travel Expenses: Any travel that is reimbursed, paid, or otherwise sponsored on the Investigator’s behalf, related to the Investigator’s university responsibilities, that is not otherwise disclosed in current and pending or other support disclosures (see exception below).

The following are not SFIs:

  1. Travel reimbursed or sponsored by:  
    1. the university,
    2. a U.S. federal, state, or local government agency,
    3. a U.S. non-profit institution of higher education as defined at 20 U.S.C. 1001(a), or
    4. an academic teaching hospital, medical center, or research institute affiliated with an institution of higher education in the U.S.
  2. Salaries, royalties, or other Remuneration paid by the university to the Investigator, including intellectual property rights assigned to the institution and agreements to share in royalties related to such rights.  
  3. Income from investment vehicles, e.g., mutual funds and retirement accounts, provided the Investigator does not directly control the investment decisions made in these vehicles.
  4. Income from:
    1. U.S. federal, state, or local government agency,
    2. a non-profit U.S. institution of higher education as defined at 20 U.S.C. 1001(a), or
    3. an academic teaching hospital, medical center, or research institute affiliated with an institution of higher education in the U.S. 

In exchange for:

seminars, teaching lectures, or teaching engagements, or

service on advisory committees or review panels

  • Programs funded by a sponsor through a grant, contract, or agreement with the university, including but not limited to research, education, testing, outreach, etc.; and
  • Programs funded through Lehigh University’s internal grant programs administered through the Office of the Vice Provost for Research (VPR).