851-0180-00L Research Ethics
| Semester | Herbstsemester 2017 |
| Dozierende | G. Achermann |
| Periodizität | jährlich wiederkehrende Veranstaltung |
| Lehrsprache | Englisch |
| Kommentar | Number of participants limited to 40 Particularly suitable for students of D-BIOL, D-CHAB, D-HEST |
Lehrveranstaltungen
| Nummer | Titel | Umfang | Dozierende | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 851-0180-00 G | Research Ethics
 One additional hour of home work per week will be required | 2 Std. |
| G. Achermann |
Katalogdaten
| Kurzbeschreibung | This course enables students to: • Identify and describe leading approaches to and key questions and concepts of research ethics; • Identify, construct and evaluate moral arguments; • Make well-reasoned decisions to ethical problems a scientist is likely to encounter; • Analyze the theoretical foundations and disputes underlying contemporary debates on moral issues in research. |
| Lernziel | Participants of the course Research Ethics will • Develop an understanding of the role of certain moral concepts, principles and normative theories related to scientific research; • Improve their moral reasoning skills (such as identifying and evaluating reasons, conclusions, assumptions, analogies, concepts and principles), and their ability to use these skills in assessing other people’s arguments, making decisions and constructing their own reasoning to the kinds of ethical problems a scientist is likely to encounter; • Deepen their understanding of the debates on certain central moral issues in research, e.g. the use of animals in biomedical research. |
| Inhalt | I. Introduction to Moral Reasoning ------------------------------------------- 1. Ethics - the basics - What is ethics? What ethics is not... - Identification of moral issues (awareness): what constitutes an ethical question? Distinguishing ethical questions from other kinds of questions; - Values (personal, cultural & ethical) & principles for ethical conduct in research; - Descriptive and prescriptive ethics - Ethical universalism, ethical relativism and cultural relativism - What is research ethics and why is it important? - Professional codes of conduct: functions and limitations 2. Normative Ethics - Overview on important theories for research ethics: virtue theories, duty-based theories (rights theory, categorical imperative, prima facie duties), consequentialist theories, other theories; - The plurality of ethical theories, moral pluralism and its consequences; 3. Moral reasoning I: Decision-making - How (not) to approach ethical issues...; Is there a correct method for answering moral questions? - Models of method in Applied Ethics: a) Top-down approaches; b) the reflective equilibrium; c) a bottom-up approach: casuistry (or reasoning-by-analogy); - Is there a right answer? 4. Moral reasoning II: Arguments - Why arguments? What is a good argument? The structure of (moral) arguments; - Deductive and inductive arguments; Validity and soundness; strength and cogency; - Assessing moral arguments II. Research Ethics ------------------------- 1. Research involving animals - The moral status of animals: moral considerability, moral significance; morally relevant features; - Representative views on the moral status of animals and resulting standpoints on the use of animals in biomedical research - The 3 R's (replacement, reduction, refinement); - Public policy in the context of moral disagreement - The concept of dignity and the dignity of living beings in the Swiss constitution; - The weighing/evaluation of interests: the procedure and criticism, the value of basic research and related problems in the weighing of interests; 2. Research involving human subjects - History of research involving human subjects - Basic ethical principles – the Belmont report - Selection of study participants. The concept of vulnerability - Assessment of risks and benefits of a research project - Research ethics committees - Information and consent; confidentiality and anonymity; - Research projects involving biological material and health related data 3. Social responsibility - What is social responsibility? Social responsibility: whose obligation? - Public advocacy by researchers |
| Skript | Course material (handouts, case studies, exercises, surveys and papers) will be available during the lectures and on the course homepage. |
| Voraussetzungen / Besonderes | What are the requirements? First and foremost your strong willingness to seriously achieve the main learning outcomes as indicated in the Course Catalogue (specific learning outcomes for each module will be provided at the beginning of the course). For successfully completing the course Research Ethics, the following commitment is absolutely necessary (but not sufficient) (observed success factors for many years!): 1. Your regular presence is absolutely required (so please no double, parallel enrollment for courses taking place at the identical time!) connected with your active participation during class, e.g. taking notes, contributing to discussions (in group as well as in plenary class), solving exercises. 2. Having the willingness and availability of the necessary time for regularly preparing the class (at least 1 hour per week, probably even more…). This includes e.g. the solving of exercises, the reading of ethics papers, and – of course – the preparation for the performance assessment during the semester. 3. Availability for writing the Performance assessment in the first part of the semester as well as the end-of-semester exam (the dates will be communicated in the first week of the semester). Please carefully evaluate your situation for the autumn semester 2017 in respect of the necessary commitments. |
Leistungskontrolle
| Information zur Leistungskontrolle (gültig bis die Lerneinheit neu gelesen wird) | |
Leistungskontrolle als Semesterkurs | |
| ECTS Kreditpunkte | 2 KP |
| Prüfende | G. Achermann |
| Form | Semesterendprüfung |
| Prüfungssprache | Englisch |
| Repetition | Es wird ein Repetitionstermin in den ersten zwei Wochen des unmittelbar nachfolgenden Semesters angeboten. |
| Zusatzinformation zum Prüfungsmodus | Beside the end-of-semester exam, there will be an additional performance assessment during the semester. This performance assessment counts 30% for the final grade. |
Lernmaterialien
| Keine öffentlichen Lernmaterialien verfügbar. | |
| Es werden nur die öffentlichen Lernmaterialien aufgeführt. |
Gruppen
| Keine Informationen zu Gruppen vorhanden. |
Einschränkungen
| Allgemein |  : Für Fachstudierende und Hörer/-innen ist eine Spezialbewilligung der Dozierenden notwendig |
| Plätze | Maximal 40 |
| Warteliste | Bis 25.09.2017 |
| Belegungsende | Belegung nur bis 14.10.2017 möglich |
