6. Intellectual Property and Conflict of Interest

At all times, faculty members, postdoctoral researchers, and graduate students must maintain the highest levels of integrity in their research, teaching, and educational endeavors. Please see the Intellectual Property Policy and the Scholarly Misconduct Policy for more information

6.1 Conflict of Interest

Faculty members and students are expected to declare any real or perceived conflict of interest of a personal or financial nature that may influence explicitly or implicitly their participation in graduate programs and graduate administration. In particular, faculty members should not evaluate the course work or supervise a thesis or project of family members or close associates. For more details see Dalhousie’s Conflict of Interest Policy. If in doubt, contact the Faculty of Graduate Studies (graduate.studies@dal.ca) for further guidance.

A faculty member is also not eligible to act as supervisor for: (a) another faculty member who holds their primary academic appointment in the same academic unit; or (b) an employee who is in a direct reporting relationship with that faculty member.

No student or supervisor shall have a financial or family interest in the industry or business in which the student is pursuing their thesis research. If a student is employed by the company in which the research is being conducted or the student’s research is marketable under terms of the supervisor’s grant or contract used to provide support for the student, protection must be given to the student’s contribution to the research in accordance to the Dalhousie Intellectual Property Policy and by means of an appropriate contract, finalized before the research for the degree is commenced, and signed by all parties involved. Students and supervisors are encouraged to contact the Intellectual Property Office and Copyright Office for guidance.

Should any real or perceived conflicts of interest exist, these should be declared in writing writing to the administrative head and the Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies. Academic units are to place these declarations in the student’s file.

Please see the Senate guidelines on Conflict of Interest.

6.2 Intellectual Honesty and Plagiarism

All students should read and be familiar with the University policies on Intellectual Honesty, as described in the University Regulations section of this Calendar.

It is highly recommended that all graduate students complete the Dalhousie Writing Centre Academic Integrity online modules early in their academic programs.

6.3 Policy on Integrity in Scholarly Activity

Dalhousie operates on the creator-owned intellectual property model (see Dalhousie Intellectual Property Policy). In accordance with the Senate Policy on Integrity in Scholarly Activity, the Faculty of Graduate Studies has adopted guidelines that focus on the involvement of graduate students in research and scholarly activity. Guidelines on intellectual honesty are available on the Senate website. Any suspected violation of academic regulations by graduate students in relation to their thesis, comprehensive exam, proposal examination or project work must be immediately reported to the Academic Integrity Officer of the Faculty of Graduate Studies for a confidential review of the allegation in accordance with the Senate Discipline Committee guidelines. Instructors have no authority to address academic violations directly and must forward allegations to the Academic Integrity Officer of their Faculty (course work related only) or the Faculty of Graduate Studies.

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