Instructions and Definitions
Instructions:
Investigators are required to disclose Significant Financial Interest (SFI) whenever an
investigator applies for funding from National Science Foundation (NSF), Public Health
Service (PHS) agencies (e.g., NIH), or other agencies adopting federal requirements.
Investigators must disclose SFI annually during the life of a sponsored research project,
and within 30 days of discovering or acquiring a new SFI.
Definitions:
Investigator means the Principal Investigator, Co-Investigators, Project Directors, and
any other person at the institution who is responsible for the design, conduct, or
reporting of research activities funded or proposed for funding. For reporting of
Significant Financial Interest, “investigator” includes the investigator’s spouse and
dependent children.
Significant Financial Interest means anything of monetary value, including, but not
limited to:
▪ salary or other payments for services (e.g., consulting fees or honoraria)
▪ equity interests (e.g., stocks, stock options or other ownership interests)
▪ intellectual property rights (e.g., patents, copyrights and royalties from such rights)
The term does NOT include:
▪ salary, royalties, or other remuneration from the university
▪ income from seminars, lectures, or teaching engagements sponsored by public or
nonprofit entities
▪ income from service on advisory committees or review panels for public or nonprofit
entities;
▪ an equity interest that, when aggregated for the Investigator and the Investigator’s
spouse and dependent children meets both of the following tests:
(1) does not exceed $10,000 (or $5,000 for PHS projects) in value as determined
through reference to public prices or other reasonable measures of fair market
value, and
(2) does not represent more than a 5% ownership interest in any single entity.
▪salary, royalties or other payments that, when aggregated for the investigator and the
investigator’s spouse and dependent children over the next twelve months, are not
expected to exceed $10,000 (or $5,000 for PHS projects).