The Novo Nordisk Foundation holds itself — and the people and organisations it works with — to clear standards of conduct, research integrity and responsible operations. The codes and policies below set out those standards and how to raise a concern.
Ethics and compliance
Codes of Conduct
The Novo Nordisk Foundation maintains both an Internal Code of Conduct for its board, executive management and employees, as well as a Partner Code of Conduct for people and organisations associated with the Foundation, such as grant recipients, personnel funded by grants, organisations collaborating with us, suppliers and subsidiaries.
You can learn more about our codes of conduct here.
Confidential Reporting
The Foundation has implemented a whistleblower policy and scheme that enable people to anonymously report serious and/or recurring violations of the Foundation’s Internal Code of Conduct, Partner Code of Conduct, internal policies or applicable laws, regulations and ethical principles.
Additional information on this programme can be found here.
Conflicts of Interest
Avoiding actual or perceived conflicts of interest is paramount for the Novo Nordisk Foundation in order that we can act transparently, with integrity and in a way that maintains public trust.
For grants, our Rules for Grant Eligibility and Assessment provide guidance on when someone is ineligible to receive or evaluate a grant due to a personal, professional, or financial conflict of interest.
The Foundation has also adopted specific guidelines regarding collaboration with Novo Group companies, especially when considering grants and projects in fields where the Novo Group may have a commercial interest. These guidelines are detailed in our Executive Management-approved Guidelines for Philanthropic Collaboration with NNF-Controlled Companies.
Standards for Good Research Practice
When funding research, the Novo Nordisk Foundation expects partners to live up to recognised standards for good research practice. These standards are detailed in our Partner Code of Conduct and available here.
Data Ethics and AI Policy
The Foundation maintains separate policies concerning:
- data ethics
- ethical use of AI, and
- the specific use of AI by committee members and peer reviewers when assessing grant applications.
You can view these policies here.
Other Ethics & Compliance Policies
The Foundation maintains separate policies on the following topics:
