2. INELIGIBILITY TO ASSESS GRANT APPLICATIONS
Members of the Board of Directors, executive management, members of committees, peer reviewers, and other external assessors (“members”) are disqualified from assessing an application based on the following conflicts of interest:
- Personal interest: This includes a family relationship with the applicant, co-applicant, or other key person. Family includes, but is not limited to, children, grandchildren, parents, siblings, nieces, nephews, grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins. Family also includes spouses, partners, and cohabitants, as well as their family members, as defined above.
- Professional/career interest: This includes current or recent direct professional connections, such as supervising the applicant or being supervised by the applicant, as well as other close academic ties.
- Financial interest: This includes having a financial stake in the outcome of the application.
In addition, members are generally prohibited from assessing an application if they have collaborated on research with the applicant or co-published materials within the past five years. This can be waived on a case-by-case basis by the Foundation based on the nature and closeness of the collaboration.
Novo Nordisk Foundation employees are bound by the Foundation’s Internal Code of Conduct and internal policies with regards to managing grant-related conflicts of interest.
3. PROCEDURE IN CASE OF INELIGIBILITY
Members must inform the Novo Nordisk Foundation of any ineligibility or potential conflict of interest within ten working days of receiving the applications. In case of doubt, representatives of the Novo Nordisk Foundation shall consult with the committee chair.
If there is disagreement about whether a conflict of interest is disqualifying, the committee has the option to discuss without the concerned member present and decide by a simple majority vote. In the case of a tie, the chair would have the deciding vote.
If there are five or fewer applications in the starting pool and a member is ineligible to assess one or more specific applications, they are ineligible to consider any of the applications in the pool.
However, in situations where a larger pool of applications has been narrowed down to five or fewer through selection procedures, the conflicted member may participate in discussion of other applications after the remaining committee members have made a final decision on the application they are ineligible to assess. During subsequent discussions, including final prioritisation, the conflicted member must abstain from commenting on the application they are ineligible to assess.
If a member is ineligible to assess an application, they should leave the room during all interviews, presentations, and discussions related to the application.
If, as a result of these procedures, the committee lacks quorum or there are other concerns related to its ability to fairly and effectively assess applications, the matter should be referred to the Board of Directors.
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Approved by the Board of Directors of the Novo Nordisk Foundation on 11 September 2025.
