Can the end ever justify the means? What are the ethics of research?
Have your say about ethics in research at a free debate at the BA Festival of Science.
Where: Snaim Building Conference Room, Trinity College Campus, Dublin
When: Thursday 8 September 2005, 14.00-16.00
The UK research community is currently debating whether to adopt a universal code of ethics. This raises a wide range of fundamental questions: Should researchers have to abide by an ethical code of conduct? If so, who should set the rules? Is there a risk that a code of conduct could limit scientific curiosity and deny the world new discoveries? Research Councils UK (RCUK) is holding a free debate at the BA Festival of Science 2005 at Trinity College, Dublin to give everyone the chance to have their say about ethics in publicly-funded research.
The debate will be chaired by Clare Matterson of The Wellcome Trust and includes speakers who will raise some of the ethical issues facing researchers as they work in increasingly contentious areas, such as cloning, stem cells and nanotechnology. The audience will also be able to discuss what the recent draft of an ethical code for scientists from The Council for Science and Technology, a high-level advisory group to the UK government, will mean for research.
Sheila Anderson, Head of Communications at the Natural Environment Research Council, who is organising the event on behalf of RCUK, says, "Values and ethics shape the way we view the world and how we behave in it. The RCUK debate on ethics in research will give researchers, science communicators and the public the chance to have their say about what they expect from publicly-funded researchers and what a code of ethics for researchers might look like."
The speakers include: Professor Kathy Sykes, Collier Chair of Public Engagement in Science and Engineering at the University of Bristol and honorary member of the BA, Professor David Fisk, Chief Scientific Advisor to the UK Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and holder of the Royal Academy of Engineering Chair at Imperial College London, Professor Andrew Webster, Head of Sociology at the University of York and principal author of the Economic and Social Research Council's Research Ethics Framework, and Ernest Shannon, fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and member of the Irish Academy of Engineering.
They will ask the audience to consider some of the ethical issues facing the research community, such as can the ends ever justify the means, and should researchers consider that they might cause offence to other value systems? The speakers will explain how new social science thinking is challenging conventional ethical frameworks, ask how this could affect research and how the engineering community is moving towards an code of ethics based on fundamental values and beliefs.
The audience will be free to discuss the speakers’ suggestion and to explain their own views about the ethics of current research and the role of any code of ethics.
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Contacts
Event Contact:
Ruth Welters, NERC
Tel: 01793 411604, Mobile: 07747 564 312
Email: rewe@nerc.ac.uk
Notes to Editors
The Research Councils UK Ethics in Research debate is part of the BA Festival of Science 2005 being held at Trinity College, Dublin 3-10 September 2005. The RCUK debate is free and open to all.
The Council for Science and Technology (CST) is the UK government's top-level advisory body on science and technology policy issues. CST's remit is to advise the Prime Minister and the First Ministers of Scotland and Wales on strategic issues that cut across the responsibilities of individual government departments. CST organises its work around five broad themes (research, science and society, education, science and government, and technology innovation) and takes a medium to longer term approach.
About Research Councils UK
Research Councils UK (RCUK) is the partnership between the UK's eight Research Councils. The Research Councils run several cross-council multidisciplinary research programmes and are the main public investors in fundamental research in the UK. Through RCUK, the Research Councils are working together to create a common framework for research, training and knowledge transfer.
The partnership is led by the RCUK Executive Group, which meets monthly and comprises the chief executives of the eight Research Councils. The Group is currently chaired by Professor Ian Diamond, chief executive of the Economic and Social Research Council.
The eight UK Research Councils are:
- Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC);
- Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC);
- Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils (CCLRC);
- Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC);
- Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC);
- Medical Research Council (MRC);
- Natural Environment Research Council (NERC);
- Particle Physics & Astronomy Research Council (PPARC).