Management of conflicts of interest

Panel members, chairmen and vice chairmen may not have their own application(s) processed in the panel of which they are members, neither as main or co-applicant. If a member/chairman/vice chairman wishes to apply for funding from Formas and there is no other relevant panel, Formas will provide a replacement panel member for that year. Any of the above persons who wish to apply for funds in their own group should inform Formas of this as soon as possible, preferably two months prior to the closing date of the call for applications.

A fundamental requirement for work performed by panels is that it must be characterised by impartiality. Provisions related to conflicts of interest can be found in sections 11-12 in The Administrative Procedures Act (1986:23). A conflict of interest is considered to arise in the following cases:

• The issue concerns the member or someone close to the member, or if the outcome of the matter can be expected to entail particular benefit or damage for the member or anyone close to the member. 
  
• The member or someone close to the member is the deputy or is active at the same university department or company as the applicant, or is deputy for someone else who can be expected to receive particular benefit or damage from the matter’s outcome. 
  
• The member has an ongoing or recently concluded close collaboration with the applicant.
  
• Reasons for conflicts of interest may also exist if there is any particular circumstance that can affect confidence in a member’s impartiality in the matter. Examples might be friendship, enemity and economic dependency.

Members are obliged to ensure that conflicts of interest will not arise, and to declare on their own initiative if there are circumstances that might be considered to influence their standpoint. In the event of a conflict of interest, the member shall refrain from participating in the administration and assessment of the application in question, and shall leave the room when discussions regarding the application take place. During panel meetings, minutes concerning conflicts of interest shall be kept.