1
SIF
Graduate Research Ethics Syllabus
Module curriculum
We have developed a model that combines
(1) an overview of different systems of ethical reasoning,
(2) the specific forms that research ethics in its different understandings, principles
and argumentations takes in various disciplines and domains,
(3) reflection on the parameters that society and subsystems such as science,
economics, knowledge production at 3rd and 4th level, law set for such ethical
enquiries.
The guiding idea is to develop research ethics from the different approaches to
ethics as a working knowledge of the researcher who is responsible to
him/herself for his/her own integrity, and at the same time co-responsible for
shaping the structures in which research will takes place and shape the life worlds and
agency of citizens in the future.
Teaching model:
Components 1 and parts of 3 are taught jointly for postgraduates from different
disciplines, component 2 is based on domain-specific reflection.
Teaching outcomes:
At the end of the module participants will be expected to be able to
 recognise and compare traditions of ethical reasoning, their guiding
anthropologies, and their understanding of key concepts
 analyse the framework of international Human Rights and of European
conventions, principles and their interpretations relevant to one’s research.
 articulate and situate their own position in relation to the different approaches
 find out what is morally relevant in particular research topics and methods
 justify and implement an ethically reflected research proposal.
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FIRST PART (May 14-15, 2008):
Introduction and exemplary issues: Regimes of research ethics governance, case
studies, international ethics conventions
Wednesday, May 14, 2008:
9.00-10.45 Overview of Module
Disciplines, approaches, understanding key concepts in core international conventions,
writing an ethically reflected research proposal
11.15-13.00 Current Regimes of Research Ethics: Principles of Research on Vulnerable
Human Subjects
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Dr Jean Whyte, The Children’s Research Centre, TCD
Institutionalising Ethical Guidelines for Research with Children
14.00-16.00 Case Studies in Scientific Research
Dr Alan L. Kelly, Dean of Graduate Studies and Senior Lecturer in Food Technology,
UCC
Ethical Issues in Scientific Research: Data Selection, Collaboration, Publication
Thursday, May 15, 2008:
International Conventions on Biomedical Research - Origins and Current Controversies
9.00-10.45 Prof. Dr Dietmar Mieth, Centre for Ethics in the Sciences and Humanities,
University of Tübingen, Germany, and former member of the European Group of Ethics
at the European Commission, Brussels
Ethics and Law in the EU – Bridging or Fudging Different Traditions of Moral and Legal
Argumentation?
11.00-12.30 Case Studies: Process of Institutional Agreement and Vetos
Ethics as consensus management in expert cultures or through civic debate in the public
sphere?
14.00-15.00 Recognising traditions of argumentation in philosophical ethics (e.g., Virtue,
communitarian, deontological, utilitarian, contract, discourse ethics)
Prof. Linda Hogan, TCD, Prof. Maureen Junker-Kenny, TCD
15.00-16.00 Feedback from postgraduates in their different disciplines, questions for Part
II
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Between the first and the second parts, development of research proposal, journal
accompanying research experience.
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SECOND PART (June 10-12, 2008)
Tuesday, June 10, 2008:
Key concepts and models of ethical agency; development of discipline-specific
themes (Linda Hogan, Maureen Junker-Kenny)
9.00-11.00 Comparison of key concepts and models of ethical agency (e.g., autonomy,
human dignity, informed consent, human flourishing, justice, rights and obligations, trust,
preference, risk/benefit, consensus) and their interpretation
11.30-13.00 Prof Des O’Neill, TCD-Tallaght Hospital
Individual, Professional and Social Ethical Issues in the Practice of Medical Research
14.00-16.00 Introduction to area-specific issues, division into disciplines. Themes, e.g.:
 Health Care Informatics
 Post-conflict Communities (expert from Irish Dept of Foreign Affairs)
 Cultural Heritage, Archaeology, History (expert from UNESCO)
 Energy and ethics, natural resources and sustainability
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Ethics of Genetic Engineering
Ethics of Clinical Research in Developing Countries
Animal Ethics
Wednesday, June 11, 2008:
Discipline-specific reflections arising from PG’s research themes, e.g.:
Humanities: Archaeology and politics; literature and narrative ethics; heritage, memory
cultures, identity construction and difference;
Social Sciences: Justice as distribution or as recognition of difference? Integration of
minority cultures, or contribution from their internal resources?
Engineering and ICT: Sustainability re. depletion of natural resources, carbon
footprints.Values in the information society
Biomedical Ethics: Traditions of moral argumentation and legal frameworks in Europe.
Different interpretations of guiding concepts such as autonomy, dignity, trust, justice.
Rights, duties and conflicts in the physician-patient relationship.
Animal Ethics: Basis for recognising inherent worth of animals; international standards;
alternatives to animal research
Business Ethics, e.g.: virtues of honesty, accountability; structural issues of power
between national states and international business corporations; framework of justice
bounded society or cosmopolitan scale?
Thursday, June 12, 2008:
Parameters of research
1) Values inherent in research: verifiability, transparency, failures and successes, increase
in knowledge and in (more precise) lack of knowledge (e.g., expert from Genetics)
2) Paradigm changes, priorities, possibility of parallel or alternative research, funding and
dependency, research ethics boards as for-profit-organisations? (experts from funding
bodies and Science Foundation Ireland)
3) Transition from scientific to public discourse, media impact, societal expectations
(media expert)
4) Innovating institutions to anticipate problems: early warning systems inside and
beyond the professions to ensure accountability and anticipation of emerging problems
(legal expert)
Basic literature for Days 1-3:
Robert L. Arrington, Western Ethics. An Historical Introduction (Oxford: Blackwell,
1998)
Onora O’Neill, Autonomy and Trust in Bioethics (Cambridge: CUP, 2002)
Stella Reiter-Theil et al. (eds.), Ethics Codes in Medicine. Foundations and Achievements
of Codification since 1947 (Aldershot: Ashgate, 1998)
European Commission, Ethics for Researchers. Facilitating Research Expertise in FP 7,
Luxembourg 2007
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Alderson, P., Morrow, V., Ethics, social research and consulting with children and
young people (Barkingside: Barnardo's, 2004)
Christoph Rehmann-Sutter et al. (eds.), Bioethics in Cultural Contexts. Reflections on
Methods and Finitude (International Library of Ethics, Law, and the New Medicine, Vol
28) (Dordrecht: Springer, 2006)
Some weblinks to international bioethical conventions and debates:
Council of Europe Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine (1997):
http://bioethik.tripod.com/bioet-en.htm.
European Group on Ethics in Science and new Technologies, European Commission:
http://europa.eu.int/comm.european_group_ethics/index_en.htm
Intergovernmental
Bioethics
Committee
(IGBC):
http://portal.unesco.org/shs/en/ev.php@URL_ID=1881&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_
SECTION=201.html
Module assessment methods and use of non-examination assessment/ recognition
methods (e.g., portfolio, projects, presentations etc.) where possible
The goal of the research ethics syllabus is to teach articulacy in models of ethical
argumentation and to develop the ability to relate them to one’s specific research. The
assessment will be based on students’ developed research proposal (3000 words) which
will include a referenced piece of ethical discussion (40-60%). The criteria of assessment
will be that 40-60 % of the marks will be awarded for the conceptual part in which ethical
models will be analysed and critically interpreted.
By asking students to show their knowledge of ethical concepts and of the traditions of
thinking that shape their interpretation, and to relate them to their topic, two goals are
achieved: One is to avoid plagiarism by copying from existing resources; the other is to
develop their capacity to act as reflective researchers with individual responsibility and
awareness of the social consequences of research, rather than as isolated parts of a
compartmentalised system that is subject to predetermined external goals in a globalised
economy.
Plans for Inputs from stakeholders and study of models for modules in similar areas
in other institutions and countries:
Apart from the expertise in research ethics present in TCD, UCC and NUIG a major
feature of the module is the possibility to encounter and discuss with key international
figures articulating and modelling the practice of research ethics in their professions (e.g.,
from the European Group of Ethics, European Commission, Brussels, from the
UNESCO, and from national agencies of research).