The AVAF promotes a reflection on integrity and conflict of interest in the field of research at the Universitat Politècnica de València
Valencia, 25 March 2026.- The Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency (AVAF) and the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) have held the training conference “Conflict of interest in academic and research environments” at the Higher Technical School of Industrial Engineering (ETSII). The activity brought together nearly 80 attendees, including research staff, project managers and university administration staff.
Belén Picó, Vice-Rector for Research at the UPV, presented the conference and, subsequently, the Agency’s Training technicians, Mayte López and Pilar Moreno, analysed risk situations that often go unnoticed in academia:
- Malpractice in publication and authorship: One of the points of greatest interest for the teaching and research staff has been the analysis of scientific integrity. The problems posed by fraud in authorship and practices such as salami slicing or fragmentation of publications to inflate CVs have been detailed.
- Management of Spin-offs and transfer: The particularities of knowledge-based companies (CBE) have been addressed, clarifying the exceptions allowed by the Science (LCTI) and Universities (LOSU) laws with respect to the general regime of incompatibilities.
- Control tools in European funds: The mandatory use of DACI (declaration of absence of conflict of interest) and the MINERVA data mining tool has been delved into, explaining how the cross-referencing of tax and notarial data allows detecting “red flags” or hidden corporate links before the award of contracts.
- Evolution of the legal framework: The shift from a model based on the “good faith” of the civil servant (Law 40/2015) to one of active surveillance and automated detection reinforced by the laws of 2022 and 2023 has been analysed.
The session concluded with a practical workshop where attendees presented real experiences and resolved doubts about the management of personal, relational, institutional and economic interests common in the different dimensions of university and research management.
The collaboration between the AVAF and the UPV reaffirms the commitment of both institutions to public integrity and transparency.
If you would like to have specialized training, you can contact us through formacion@antifraucv.es
