Conflict of Interest

STANFORD Calif.--The Graduate Student Association at Stanford University has respond several incidents of possible conflicts of interest involving faculty members who supervise Ph.D., students and also work for private companies.

One case involved a post-doctoral student whose faculty advisor described the student's research project to the company the faculty member worked for. The company assigned is own personnel to an identical project and quickly solved the problem.

As a result, the association said, the student had nothing to show for months of work. The Chronicle of Higher Education reported recently.

No student or professors were identified in the association's report to Stanford's Committee on Research.

Gerald Lieberman, vice provost and dean of research and graduate studies, said the university should seriously consider barring faculty members from serving in situations where such conflicts could occur.