13.F. Skills building seminar: “There is never a dull moment in science”. Designing engaging responsible conduct in research courses
Authors:   Organised by: EUPHAnxt, EUPHA Ethics in public health section,   Chair persons: Els Maeckelberghe – EUPHA-ETH, Monica Brinzac - EUPHAnxt
Published: October 2020

Background

The 1954 Nobel Laureate for physics Max Born said: “There is no philosophical high-road in science, with epistemological signposts. No, we are in a jungle and find our way by trial and error, building our roads behind us as we proceed. We do not find sign-posts at cross-roads, but our own scouts erect them, to help the rest.” Science is a quest with many uncertainties. Society demands from scientists that they pursue this quest in an responsible way. Responsible conduct in science (RCR) is/ought to be on every researchers' agenda. The European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity (https://allea.org/code-of-conduct/) for example is the reference document for research integrity for all EU-funded research projects and as a model for organisations and researchers across Europe. RCR however is not only about referring to a code, it is also about acting on it, and raising awareness. Education is pivotal. Two pitfalls definitely need to be avoided in teaching RCR: 1. making it a highly theoretical endeavor that in most cases will not result in the internalization of the principles of RCR; 2. limiting the teaching to a small staff, thus not involving a large group of researchers as role models. Therefore, it is necessary to design RCR courses in which students feel challenged to discover the underlying principles and moral issues in responsible research themselves whilst at the same time sharing this discovery with their role models. For senior researchers (role models, teachers) the challenge is not to impose rules and regulations but to foster an environment in which junior researchers feel free to discuss the decisions and questions they have in upholding principles of responsible research. Very often, senior researchers are unaware of the dilemma's young researchers encounter. Consequently, courses in RCR can remain highly theoretical.

Objectives

In this skills building seminar, both junior and senior researchers will be offered an engaging and interactive method for starting effective RCR education.

Aim 1

experiencing collaborative designing of RCR education

Aim 2

Empowering junior and senior researchers in addressing RCR.

Method

Participants will be introduced to the “7 minutes - 7 people = RCR education programme” as developed by the seminar leader.

Programme Short introduction: DIY RCR education (15 minutes)Interactive session: Acquiring the skill of “7 minutes - 7 people = RCR education programme” (35 minutes)Experiences, successes and limitations of this method (20 minutes)Discussion - wrap up -lessons learned (20 minutes)

Key messages

The driving force of Responsible Conduct in Research courses is taking the process of discovery of junior researchers as starting point. The seminar will teach students (junior researchers) and teachers (senior researchers) how to draft a challenging programme for RCR-education in 30 minutes.