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Research Integrity at TU Delft: Embedding Integrity

This presentation at the NRIN Symposium covers how integrity and ethics are taught at TU Delft, focusing on courses for BSc, MSc, and PhD students, and emphasizing the importance of integrity in education and research. It also delves into the specifics of teaching ethics, research integrity, and related topics, such as scientific misconduct, data protection, authorship, and conflicts of interest. The presentation highlights the organization's values of directness, diversity, integrity, respect, engagement, courage, and trust, and explores real-life dilemmas in research integrity faced by new employees.

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Research Integrity at TU Delft: Embedding Integrity

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  1. Research Integrity at TU Delft: Embedding Integrity Dr. ir. Behnam Taebi Section of Ethics & Philosophy of Technology Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management NRIN Symposium Research Integrity in Education 27 May 2019, Amsterdam

  2. Structure of the presentation • Integrity (& ethics) subject to teach • BSc , MSc courses on ethics (& integrity) • PhD courses, specifically on RI • Integrity as a guiding value in the organization • That must be institutionally embedded and safeguarded • The Integrity Roadmap

  3. Part I: Integrity (& ethics) as subject to teach

  4. Teaching Ethics at TU Delft • Since ca 20 years provided by the Ethics and Philosophy of Technology Section (TPM) at TU Delft. • Tailor-made courses (per program), containing lectures, tutorials, essay and written exams.

  5. Ethics education 2.0 • Purpose: TU Delft would like to educate engineers with a broad, ‘comprehensive’ perspective • For this reason, TU Delft would like to see to it that all students are offered training in ethics.

  6. New setup for teaching Ethics • BSc: Basic competencies in ethics (and philosophy of science, scientific integrity and diversity) preferably through teaching lines, possibly by stand-alone course. • MSc: Specialized master course for students of all Faculties, not necessarily organized by program, but instead create a palette of more thematic courses,

  7. Thematic ethics courses • Geoengineering and Space ethics • Climate ethics • Water ethics • Energy ethics • Risk and safety ethics • Computer ethics • Robotics/AI and ethics • Science ethics • Biotechnology and ethics • Health technology and ethics • (Urban) design ethics • Ethics of transportation technology and logistics • Environmental ethics • Responsible Innovation and Value Sensitive Design • Engineering Ethics (general)

  8. Teaching Ethics & Philosophy to PhD students • A number courses including • Engineering Ethics • Creative and Critical Thinking in Engineering • Research Design • Research Integrity (mandatory)

  9. Scientific Integrity courses • Seminar 1: Scientific misconduct • What are the characteristics of goodscience? • What are the consequences of scientific misconduct? • Seminar 2: Scientific integrity • What are the scientific virtues? • How can we facilitate and incentivize honesty? • Seminar 3: Practical research skills • E.g. how can we detect and avoid plagiarism, self-plagiarism, etc.?

  10. Aims of RI courses • To raise awareness • To help identify situations involving integrity (and a breach thereof) • To deal with such situations • When they accrue to you, or someone in your surrounding

  11. Topics discussed • Plagiarism • Data fabrication • Falsification • Not in the Popperian sense • Reproducibility, replication etc. • Data protection versus open data • Human Research Ethics • Authorship • Conflicts of interest  • Code of Ethics of TU Delft

  12. Examples of cases discussed • Data fabrication • The Dark secret of Hendrik Schön - The Horizon Documentary (2004) • The Trial of Professor Hall - ABC Documentary (2003) • Problems associated with peer-reviews • The Black Box of peer-review • Scientific Integrity & policy-making • “An investigation into Bush Administration’s Misuse of Science” (Union of Concerned Scientists) • Salami Science and ethics of publication • The Cost of salami slicing (Nature Materials 2005)

  13. Part II: Integrity as guiding value in the organization

  14. Our values: DIRECT DIVERSITY INTEGRITY RESPECT ENGAGEMENT COURAGE TRUST

  15. Three pillars of Integrity at TU Delft

  16. Aims of Integrity sessions for new employees • To raise awareness • To help identify situations involving integrity (and a breach thereof) • To deal with such situations • When they accrue to you, or someone in your surrounding

  17. E.g. dilemmas of peer-review • You receive a request to review an article from a peer. You know this colleague; you worked together last year on a project and will regularly discuss this project during the coming time. But there is no other scientist with the same expertise to review this article. • What do you do?

  18. E.g. dilemma of funding • You get invited to comment in the media on a recently published scientific report to which someone from your group has contributed. Continuation of the funding for this research partially depends on how well the preliminary results published in this report will be received. • What do you do?

  19. Human Research Ethics Committee • Researchers consider the following questions • Are subjects subjected to a greater than acceptable risk given the potential benefits? • Have subjects or participants been adequately informed and given free consent? Can they withdraw without any implications?  • Are vulnerable populations targeted and have special precautions been taken to protect them? • Is the study properly expressed scientifically and does it clearly state its potential harms and benefits? • Is the equipment safe? • How will personal data be protected?

  20. What can help you? How to recognize an integrity issue • Tips to help you determine a possible integrity issue: • Ask yourself: could I explain this to society? • And: What if everyone were to do this? • Golden Rule: treating others as you would wish to be treated • Critically reflect on your conduct, also by using moral emotions such as imagination, compassion, sympathy, feelings of responsibility

  21. To conclude… • Integrity as an institutionally embedded principle • A focus on integrity for new employees • Facilitating discussions about integrity (breaches) • Website TU Delft over integrity: www.integrity.tudelft.nl • Research integrity is emphasized by • Institutional embedding and arrangements • (Mandatory) courses for PhD candidates • Website about teaching ethics at TU Delft: http://tudelft.nl/ethics/

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