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 below.
If an individual or organisation receives an NNF research grant, they must comply with:
- widely recognised standards for good research practice, including:
- the rules of the host institution;
- all applicable laws and regulations in the country where the grant is used; and
- the following codes of conduct, as applicable:
- in Denmark, the Danish Code of Conduct for Research Integrity issued by Denmark’s Ministry of Higher Education and Science;
- in other European countries, the European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity issued by the European Federation of Academies of Sciences and Humanities (ALLEA); and
- in all other countries, any similar national or regional code of conduct.
- international and national standards on:
- animal welfare; and
- safety and rights of clinical trial patients and healthy volunteers, such as:
• the Nuremberg Code;
• the Declaration of Helsinki; or
• other ethical guidelines; and - agreements on genetic resources, such as the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing.
In addition, if they are carrying out research in lower-income settings, they are encouraged to comply with the principles of the TRUST Code.
Breaches of these standards can be reported directly to the Foundation or via our confidential external whistleblower website. In most instances, we will refer the allegations to the research institution (if they have well-defined internal procedures for handling such cases) and ask to be informed of the outcome. Sanctions for violations can include reducing, phasing out, or terminating a partnership or grant, demanding repayment of funds, or refusing to accept future grant applications.
