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To contact the COI officer, please e-mail coi-help@mit.edu.
How do graduate students report outside professional activities?
Graduate students considering outside professional activities should continue to follow the policies outlined in Graduate Policies and Procedures on COI and OPA. They will not use MyCOI-OPA+ unless specifically instructed to do so as part of a research proposal or award process.
How do I disclose an FCOI and an OPA in MyCOI-OPA+?
Refer to MyCOI-OPA+ Resources for detailed guidance.
I am an administrator and had to submit an OPA disclosure in prior years. Do I need to submit an OPA disclosure in MyCOI-OPA+?
No. Administrative, support, and service staff now report Outside Professional Activities directly to supervisors only as required by the Conflict of Commitment policy. They do not use MyCOI-OPA+.
I don’t have any engagements to report. Should I submit an OPA disclosure?
Yes. If you are faculty, a researcher, research staff, academic instructional staff, a postdoc, or otherwise directed, you should complete your OPA disclosure, even if you do not have any Reasonably Related engagements. Refer to MyCOI-OPA+ Resources for additional guidance.
I need to submit a Travel Disclosure for sponsored research. Is that also done in MyCOI-OPA+?
Yes. Travel disclosures are entered in MyCOI-OPA+.
I'm receiving a “Bad Request” error message in MyCOI-OPA+. How do I resolve?
Try clearing cookies from your browser and using either Firefox or Chrome. Safari and Brave browsers are generally not recommended and may contribute to these error messages.
I'm transferring my existing SFIs from the old COI module to MyCOI-OPA+ using the migration tool. There’s an entity listed that I don’t want to transfer. How can I ensure this doesn’t happen?
Similar to the old legacy COI module, once created, an Engagement may be modified or marked as “Inactive” but can never be deleted as they remain part of your historical record. You will first have to create the new entity as part of the transfer process. Once you have completed creating the entity in MyCOI-OPA+, click the vertical 3-ellipsis button and select Deactivate.
To learn more, please see Getting Started with MyCOI-OPA+: Data Transfer from Legacy My COI (CoeusLite).
If I have an engagement with a foreign entity, do I need to disclose it?
Yes.
MIT policy requires faculty, researchers, research staff, academic instructional staff, postdocs, and others as directed to disclose any engagement with a foreign entity that is (or appears to be) Reasonably Related to your Institutional Responsibilities.
Additionally, even if the activity is part of your normal MIT responsibilities (and would not otherwise be considered an Outside Professional Activity, or OPA), it must still be disclosed if it involves a foreign entity. MIT has an expedited disclosure process for these situations.
Examples
- Serving as an editor of a foreign journal – Disclose if with a foreign journal; not required for domestic journals such as Science
- Representing MIT on a foreign government or international committee – Disclose if with organizations like CERN; not required for U.S. agencies such as NIH
- Giving academic lectures, presentations, or seminars at foreign institutions – Disclose if at institutions such as the Sorbonne; not required for U.S.-based institutions such as Harvard
Is Travel Disclosure the same as the Travel Registry?
No, these are two separate functions.
Travel Disclosure is required by some research agencies, requiring Sponsored Travel be included in the determination of whether the aggregate value of an Investigator’s financial interests rises to the level of a Significant Financial Interest.
The Travel Registry allows the Institute to better locate and contact an MIT employee or student if traveling to an area where health, safety or security are threatened.