Call for participation: iRECS project workshop on research ethics governance structures

This event will gather feedback from university leaders and research actors on a set of recommendations providing guidance on ways to implement a comprehensive research ethics governance structure in higher education institutions and research performing organisations. The event is part of the EU-funded ‘Improving Research Ethics Expertise and Competencies to Ensure Reliability and Trust in Science’ (iRECS) project.

During this online event, participants will be given a presentation of the main outcomes of the iRECs project, particularly the development of a guide supporting the implementation of institutional good practices for research ethics. This will be followed by an interactive feedback-gathering session, during which participants will be asked to share their comments and engage in discussions regarding the guidelines and format of the ‘implementation guide’. Feedback gathered will be used to further refine the implementation guide, aiming to enhance its relevance and applicability across diverse institutional settings. Therefore, topics addressed during the consultation may include:

• Research ethics practices, structures and mechanisms at participants’ institutions
• The major pitfalls to take into consideration while setting up ethics governance structures and policies at universities
• Examples of good practices implemented at universities on research ethics governance
• Ways the implementation guide can take into consideration the variety of research ethics governance structures across European institutions

This group is open to university leaders, directors of research and innovation offices, members and chairs of research ethics committees, directors of doctoral schools, research ethics and integrity officers, research managers, researchers that may be involved in research ethics training or research ethics and integrity policy, who are willing to actively contribute to this exchange.

Participants will be selected based on their institutional profile and professional background. EUA also aims to ensure diversity in terms of gender and geography. To enable active participation, the number of available places is limited, and EUA reserves the right to give priority to early applicants. The deadline to apply is Friday 19 September.

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Please contact the EUA Secretariat at research@eua.eu should you have any questions regarding this call for participation.

Background:

iRECS works to strengthen the reliability of science and improve conduct in the ethics review process by advancing research ethics expertise and skills. This includes offering training opportunities at different career levels, contributing to improving general research ethics policies as well as ethics consultations and review boards. The project mainly targets issues related to the use of emerging technologies (AI in healthcare, gene editing, biobanking, and extended reality).

Researchers and research institutions are increasingly required to meet ethical considerations, especially in the context of research involving innovative technologies. Therefore, a robust institutional infrastructure for research ethics is decisive in supporting effective research ethics and integrity policies and reliable ethical review processes, as well as improving trust in science. However, the establishment of a strong ethics governance structure (providing adequate training and research ethics support, improving communication and building strong networks) requires a centralised approach and the use of several levers at different institutional levels. During the project, three universities have implemented the iRECS proposals to improve ethics governance and policies in their own institutional context. The ‘implementation guide’ will describe good practices and lessons learnt from this approach and will also provide suggestions on ways to implement the iRECS framework for a comprehensive research ethics governance structure in higher education institutions and research performing organisations.