Research ethics at the Humboldt-Unvierstität zu Berlin
Researchers should also reflect on the possible consequences of their research. Increasingly, scientific journals, research sponsors, research institutions and ethics guidelines are demanding the submission of ethics opinions from ethics committees. At Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, researchers can contact the ethics committees of their faculties.
Responsible research
Researchers at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin adhere to "ethical standards when conducting surveys and experiments" (Satzung HU-Gute wissenschaftlichen Praxis (GWP), Leitprinzipien §2).
Ethics committees of the faculties
Decentralized ethics committees are the first point of contact for ethical questions. Researchers can contact the ethics committee of their faculty if
- the funding body or a journal requests an ethics vote
- the ethics guidelines of the discipline require an ethics vote to be obtained
- they think that their research project involves ethical risks and they would like to minimize them.
The ethics committees of the faculties
- Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences: Link
- Faculty of Life Sciences:
- Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciencest: Link
- Faculty of Language, Literature and Humanities: Link
- Faculty of Economics and Business Administration: Link
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Joint ethics committee of the Theologies: Link
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Contact to the Faculty of Humanities and the Faculty of Law directly via the faculty administrations
Ethical guidelines and codes
Ethical guidelines provide a framework for research projects in order to minimize potential harm to participants in research projects, to researchers, but also to individual social groups or to society as a whole. The specific requirements may differ depending on the discipline and research subject. The implementation of these ethical principles is not only advisable in terms of research ethics, but is also a prerequisite for the recognition and acceptance of scientific results. The following is a list of general and specific guidelines:
General guidelines
WMA (World Medical Association). (2013 (First edition 1964). WMA Declaration of Helsinki - Ethische principles for medical research involving human participants. Link
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (2022). Guidelines for Safeguarding Good Research Practice. Code of Conduct. https://doi.org/10.5281/ZENODO.3923601. Link
ALLEA (All European Academies). The European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity: Revised Edition 20023. https://allea.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/European-Code-of-Conduct-Revised-Edition-2023.pdf https://doi.org/10.26356/ECOC
Specific guidelines
National
- German Association of Social and Cultural Antropology. Guidelines and procedures: Link
International
- Deutsche Gesellschaft für Publizistik. und Kommunikationswissenschaften. (2017, 31. März). Ethik-Kodex der DGPuK vom 13. Mai 2015, zuletzt geändert am 31. März 2017. Link
National
- Deutsche Vereinigung für Politikwissenschaft. (2017, 15. Mai). Ethikkodex. Osnabrück. Link
- Deutsche Gesellschaft für Soziale Arbeit. (2020). Forschungsethische Prinzipien und wissenschaftliche Standards für Forschung der Sozialen Arbeit: Forschungsethikkodex der DGSA. Verabschiedet durch die Mitglieder im Juli 2020. Link
- Deutsche Gesellschaft für Soziologie. (2017, 10. Juni). Ethik-Kodex der Deutsche Gesellschaft für Soziologie (DGS) und des Berufsverbandes Deutscher Soziologen (BDS). Link
- Institut für Arbeitsmarkt und Berufsforschung. (2021). Leitlinien des IAB: Ethikkodex. gültig ab 1. Februar 2021. Link
- Verband der Hochschullehrer für Betriebswirtschaft e.V. (2014). Hinweise zur ethischen und berufspraktischen Orientierung der Mitglieder des Verbandes der Hochschullehrer für Betriebswirtschaft e.V. Link
- Verein für Socialpolitik. (o.J.). Ethikkodex des Vereins für Socialpolitik. Link
International
Data protection and informed consent
The informed consent of study participants plays a role in research ethics - both in the collection of data and in the subsequent use of data.
- HU website on data protection: Link
- Information on data protection in research for the social, educational, behavioral and economic sciences German Data Forum (RatSWD) in KonsortSWD of the NFDI: Link and about informed consent: Link
Security-related research
Researchers at the HU also reflect on whether their research has a security relevance that has the potential to harm society as a whole or the environment.
Assessing the security relevance of research
What is security-related research?
Dual use refers to research that can produce knowledge that can be misused by third parties to harm human dignity, life, health, freedom, property, the environment or peaceful coexistence (vgl. DFG/Leopoldina)
Explanations on the area of security-related research are provided by the "Gemeinsame Ausschuss sicherheitsrelevanter Forschung" of the Leopoldina and the DFG FAQs: Link
Guiding questions
The "Gemeinsame Ausschuss der DFG und Leopoldina zum Umgang mit sicherheitsrelevanter Forschung" recommends that researchers ask themselves whether if (see. Leitfragen DFG/Leopolidia)
- it is likely that the research is security-relevant,
it is possible that cooperation partners may cause security-relevant risks as part of the research, further legal regulations must be taken into account (e.g. Export control).
Case Studies by Gemeinsame Ausschuss zum Umgang mit sicherheitsrelevanter Forschung. Link
The question of safety relevance has a legal and an ethical component. Basic principle: legal compliance before ethical considerations
Areas of security-related research
Various areas can be affected for which one can ask whether there is a security relevance:
- Subject/topic (what is being researched?),
Collaborations (with whom is research being conducted?),
HU researchers abroad (where is research being conducted?),
Access to sensitive information (who is conducting research (here)?)
Anlaufstellen der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Legally, the first point of contact is the export control.
for ethical reflection the ethic committees of the faculties and institutes are the firs contact points for researchs of the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (see on this page aboce)
Darüber hinaus besteht die Möglichkeit, dass sich Forschende an die „Gemeinsame Kommission für Ethik sicherheitsrelevanter Forschung (KEF)“ der FU, Charité und HU wenden. Vertretung der HU: Prof. Dr. Torsten Meireis.
International Department: Advice on sensitive cooperations
China Competence Training Center (CCT) helps to assess the opportunities and risks of cooperation and transfer projects with China. Further information on the HU page: Link
Information portal "Gemeisamer Ausschuss der DFG und Leopoldina"
The "Gemeinsame Ausschuss der DFG und Leopoldina" provides extensive information on security-related research, international cooperation including separate information on academic cooperation with China: Link
More information about research ethics
- Comprehensive information on research ethics for researchers, ethics committees and teachers can be found on the "Best Practice Research Ethics" portal by the German Data Forum (RatSWD): Link
- The "Ethical, Social and Legal Aspects" (ELSA) section of the National Research Data Infrastructure offers further recommendations on research ethics: Link
- Literature recommendations of the project Research Ethics in Communication and Media Studies (FeKom). The literature is sorted by keyword:Link
- Erasmus Universität Rotterdam: "Dilemma Games". Dilemma Cards (pdf) and information about official App (available in App Stores). Link
Some of the Fachgesellschaften (professional societies of the disciplines) in the various research disciplines also maintain higher-level ethics committees to which researchers can turn with their questions on research ethics assessment.
To the internal exchange platform of the ethics committees
Moodlekurs (just for members of the HU ethics committees): Link