DOE Financial Disclosure Guidance
Regulations
The U.S. Department of Energy Conflict of Interest and Conflict of Commitment Policy Requirements for Financial Assistance covers the requirements for disclosure, review, management and reporting of financial interest in DOE-funded research under financial assistance awards. This policy requires disclosure of financial, commitment, and organizational conflicts of interests by investigators who participate in DOE-funded research under financial assistance awards either directly or by subaward.
What does this mean?
Per these DOE regulations, principal investigator (PI), project director (PD), co-principal investigator (Co-PI), co-project director (Co-PD), project manager, any persons designated in the applicable notice of funding (NOFO), and any individual regardless of title that is functionally performing as a PI, PD, Co-PI, Co-PD, or project manager and contributes in a substantive, meaningful way to the development or execution of the scope of work of a project funded by DOE are required to disclose all significant financial interests or financial relationships related to their non-Federal entity responsibilities.
Investigators must also disclose the financial interests or financial relationships of their spouses/registered domestic partners and/or dependent children that could directly and significantly affect the design, conduct, reporting or funding of a project.
What is “Investigator’s non-Federal entity responsibilities”?
Investigator’s non-Federal entity responsibilities means an Investigator’s professional responsibilities on behalf of the non-Federal entity, and as defined by the non-Federal entity in its policy on financial conflicts of interest (FCOI), which may include: activities such as research, research consultation, teaching, professional practice, institutional committee memberships, and service on panels such as Institutional Review Boards or Data and Safety Monitoring Boards.
Examples of disclosable information related to the Investigator’s non-Federal entity responsibilities may include but are not limited to: 1) income or honoraria received for activities such as providing expert testimony or consulting services, serving on a board of directors, scientific advisory board, committee, panel or commission sponsored by a for-profit or non-profit organization, including professional or scholarly societies; acting in an editorial capacity for a professional journal or reviewing journal manuscripts, book manuscripts, or grant or contract proposals for a non-profit or for-profit organization; accepting a position as a salaried employee outside the University or receiving royalty payments for intellectual property rights held by an entity other than The Regents; 2) holding stock or stock options in a company that is developing, manufacturing or selling products or providing services used in an Investigator’s clinical practice, teaching, research, administrative or committee responsibilities; or 3) travel paid for or reimbursed by an outside entity.
What is “Income”?
Income includes but is not limited to salary, consulting fees, honoraria, paid authorship, income received related to intellectual property rights and interests (not paid by or assigned to the UC Regents).
What is “Other Support”?
Other support means all resources made available to a covered individual in support of and/or related to all of their professional research (including basic and fundamental research), development, demonstration, and/or deployment efforts, including resources provided directly to the covered individual rather than through the research organization, and regardless of whether or not they have monetary value (e.g., even if the support received is only in-kind, such as office/laboratory space, equipment, supplies, or employees). This includes resource and/or financial support from all foreign and domestic entities, including, but not limited to, gifts provided with terms or conditions, gifts provided without terms or conditions, financial support for laboratory personnel, and participation of student and visiting researchers and visiting scholars supported by other sources of funding.
What types of research does this apply to?
The DOE Conflict of Interest and Conflict of Commitment requirements apply to any non-Federal entity that applies for, or receives, a DOE financial assistance award on or after August 17, 2026. They also apply to each covered individual who plans to participate in, or is participating in, a project funded wholly or partly under the DOE award, as well as each non-Federal entity subrecipient under the award.
These requirements do not apply to applications or financial assistance awards administered by the DOE Office of Indian Energy. For individuals applying for, or receiving, DOE financial assistance in their individual capacity, the applicable DOE program office may tailor the requirements as appropriate.
Who/What/When
Who files?
The principal Investigator (PI) and any other person, regardless of title or position, who is responsible for the purpose, design, conduct or reporting of DOE-funded research, whether or not they receive salary or other remuneration. Under the regulation, these individuals are defined as “Covered Individuals.”
When are disclosures filed?
A DOE Financial Disclosure is required at the time a proposal is submitted to the Sponsored Projects Office, at least annually at the time of submission of the progress report/non-competing continuation, at no-cost time extensions, when new covered individuals are added to the project, and within 15 days of acquiring or discovering a new significant financial interest.
What must be disclosed?
All covered individuals must disclose any “Significant Financial Interest” (SFI) and foreign-government-related COI.
Covered individuals must disclose any actual, apparent, or potential conflict of interest or conflict of commitment involving a foreign government, its instrumentalities, or any entity owned, funded, or controlled by a foreign government, even if the conflict has already been managed.
What is a “Significant Financial Interest”?
All covered individuals must disclose:
-
A financial interest consisting of one or more of the following
interests of the covered individual (and those of the covered
individual’s spouse and dependent children) that reasonably
appears to be related to the covered individual’s non-Federal
entity responsibilities:
- With regard to any foreign or domestic publicly traded entity, a significant financial interest exists if the value of any remuneration received from the entity in the twelve months preceding the disclosure and the value of any equity interest in the entity as of the date of disclosure, when aggregated, exceeds $5,000. For purposes of this definition, remuneration includes salary and any payment for services not otherwise identified as salary (e.g., consulting fees, honoraria, paid authorship); equity interest includes any stock, stock option, or other ownership interest, as determined through reference to public prices or other reasonable measures of fair market value;
- With regard to any foreign or domestic non-publicly traded entity, a significant financial interest exists if the value of any remuneration, not otherwise disclosed as current, pending, or other support, received from the entity in the twelve months preceding the disclosure, when aggregated, exceeds $5,000, or when the covered individual (or the covered individual’s spouse or dependent children) holds any equity interest (e.g., stock, stock option, or other ownership interest); and
- Intellectual property rights and interests (e.g., patents, copyrights), upon receipt of income related to such rights and interests.
- Any reimbursed or sponsored travel (i.e., that which is paid on behalf of the covered individual and not reimbursed to the covered individual so that the exact monetary value may not be readily available) related to their institutional responsibilities that is not otherwise disclosed in current and pending or other support disclosures, but does not include travel that is reimbursed or sponsored by a Federal, State, or local government agency of the United States; a domestic Institution of Higher Education; or a domestic research institute that is affiliated with a domestic Institution of Higher Education.
- Other support including gifts, whether or not they are provided with terms or conditions.
What is excluded from disclosure/What is not a “Significant Financial Interest”?
The term significant financial interest does not include the following types of financial interests: salary, royalties, or other remuneration paid by the non-Federal entity to the covered individual if the covered individual is currently employed or otherwise appointed by the non-Federal entity, including intellectual property rights assigned to the non-Federal entity and agreements to share in royalties related to such rights; any ownership interest in the non-Federal entity held by the covered individual, if the non-Federal entity is a commercial or for-profit organization; income from investment vehicles, such as mutual funds and retirement accounts, as long as the covered individual does not directly control the investment decisions made in these vehicles; income from seminars, lectures, or teaching engagements sponsored by a Federal, State, or local government agency of the United States, a domestic Institution of Higher Education, or a domestic research institute that is affiliated with a domestic Institution of Higher Education; or income from service on advisory committees or review panels for a Federal, State, or local government agency of the United States, a domestic Institution of Higher Education, or a domestic research institute that is affiliated with a domestic Institution of Higher Education.
What is an “Entity”?
An Entity is any domestic or foreign, public or private organization (excluding a U.S. federal agency) from which an investigator (and their spouse, registered domestic partner or dependent children) receives compensation or in which that individual has an ownership or equity interest.
What is the process for disclosing at UC Berkeley?
For the disclosure process at award and proposal stage and during the life of the award, see DOE Financial Disclosure.
What happens after the disclosure is submitted?
If the screening questions were all “no,” then nothing more is required unless 12 months have passed or there is a change. This is referred to as a “negative” disclosure.
If an investigator provides any “yes” responses to the screening questions, then additional information is required. This is referred to as a “positive” disclosure. This disclosure will then be reviewed by the COI Coordinator and if necessary by the COI Committee. A financial interest does not necessarily mean a conflict of interest. More detailed financial information will not be collected unless and until a proposal is likely to be funded or if the Investigator requests early review.
See Review and Management for more information on positive disclosures and the review process.