Conflict of interest declaration for jurors: template and recusal

What a conflict of interest declaration is

A conflict of interest exists when a juror's personal, professional or financial ties to an applicant could affect their judgement. A conflict that only appears to exist counts too. The test is whether a reasonable person who knew the facts could doubt the juror's impartiality.

The declaration is how a juror tells the organiser about a conflict. Recusal is what follows: the juror steps aside for that application. Both protect the applicants, the juror and the organiser when a result is questioned.

Declaring a conflict is not an accusation. Jurors are chosen because they know the field, so some conflicts are normal. The problem is a conflict that is not declared.

What counts as a conflict

A juror has a conflict with an application when any of these applies to an applicant, a team member or their organisation:

• Employer or colleague: the juror works there now or did recently. Set the period in your rules, for example the last three years.
• Family or friend: a relative, partner or close friend is an applicant or a team member.
• Financial stake: shares, a loan, a paid role or a bonus that depends on the applicant's success.
• Supervision or mentoring: the juror supervises the applicant's doctorate, mentors the team or teaches the pupils.
• Advice or business relationship: the applicant is the juror's client, supplier or business partner.
• Competing interest: the juror or their organisation applies to the same call or backs a competing applicant.
• Personal dispute: an open conflict or rivalry with an applicant.

Usually not a conflict: having met an applicant at an event, following them online or knowing their work from public sources. When in doubt, the juror declares and the chair decides.

When to declare

Jurors declare at two moments. The chair asks once more before any meeting.

1. Before seeing any application. Give each juror the list of applicants, team members and organisations in the round. The juror declares every conflict or confirms there is none. Only then do they get their applications.
2. Again whenever a conflict appears. An application can reveal a link the list did not show, such as a partner organisation. A relationship can also start during the evaluation, such as a job offer or an investment. The juror declares at once, before scoring or discussing that application.
3. At the start of a jury meeting or a live final. The chair asks every juror again and records the answers.

In Juryline, jurors go through the names of the people and organisations in the round before they see any application. The list is alphabetical and does not show which application a name belongs to. Ticking one name removes every application connected to it. Jurors can also declare a conflict on any application later. The organiser sees the declarations; applicants do not.

Conflict of interest declaration template

Copy the template into your own document and replace the text in square brackets. Ask every juror to sign it before the first round opens.

Conflict of interest declaration

Programme: [programme name]
Round: [round name, for example shortlist or final]
Juror: [full name], [organisation and role]

1. I have read the list of applicants, team members and organisations in this round.

2. Tick one:
[ ] I have no conflict of interest with any applicant in this round.
[ ] I have a conflict of interest with the applicants below.

   Applicant or organisation: [name]
   Application: [reference or title]
   Relationship: [employer or colleague / family or friend / financial stake / supervision or mentoring / advice or business / competing interest / other]
   Details: [short description, for example "I advised this company in 2025"]

3. I will not score, discuss or vote on any application listed above. I will leave the meeting while it is discussed.

4. If a new conflict appears during the evaluation, I will tell [organiser contact] before I score or discuss that application.

5. I will keep the applications and the jury's discussions confidential [until the results are published / permanently].

Signature: [signature]
Date: [date]

What happens after a declaration

A declaration should lead to the same steps every time, so nobody has to decide case by case under pressure.

1. The juror steps aside: they do not see, score, discuss or vote on that application.
2. Another juror takes the application, so it keeps the same number of jurors as the others.
3. Any score the juror already gave it is removed from the result.
4. The organiser records the juror, the application, the relationship, the date and the action taken.
5. The jury protocol lists every declared conflict.

In Juryline, a conflicted application leaves the juror's list in every round of the programme that is not locked. Any score they gave it no longer counts. When a round has a set number of jurors per application, the free place goes automatically to the least loaded eligible juror. The jury protocol lists each conflict with the juror, the application, the relationship and the date. Jurors' notes stay out of the PDF.

Difficult cases

A juror with many conflicts: if a juror is conflicted with a large share of a category, move them to another category or replace them. Otherwise the remaining jurors carry an uneven load.

A conflict found after the results: check whether the juror's score changed the outcome. If it could have, have another juror score the application, recalculate and record what happened and why.

A borderline case: the chair decides and records the reason. Apply the same decision to similar cases in the same round.

Questions

Who should sign a conflict of interest declaration?

The chair and every juror, evaluator or reviewer who scores or discusses applications. Staff who see applications but do not vote can sign the same form.

Is a conflict of interest a reason to remove a juror?

Usually not. The juror steps aside for the applications concerned and judges the rest. Replace a juror only when their conflicts cover so many applications that the load becomes uneven.

What if a juror forgot to declare a conflict?

Record the late declaration, remove their score for that application, have another juror score it and check whether the result changes. Note all of this in the jury protocol.

Do applicants see jurors' declarations?

Normally not. The organiser and the chair see them. The jury protocol lists the conflicts so that the decision can be checked; decide in your rules who receives the protocol.

Is mentoring a startup a conflict?

Yes, for that startup. A mentor knows the team and has an interest in its success, so they should not score it. They can judge the other applications.