Research ethics at KTH
The KTH Research Support Office can provide help related to research ethics. Contact the Research Ethics Advisor about, for example, support related to ethics reviews in connection with research applications, information sessions, dialogue about research ethics-related problems in planned or ongoing research, and dialogue about guidelines on ethics and good research practice. The Life Science Platform offers additional support on applications to ethics review for clinical investigations, medical research on people, biobanks, and animal experimentation.
Research ethics are essentially based on human rights and serve as one of many benchmarks for the researcher’s professional role. Different research areas have different challenges from research ethics but often included are issues on risks of harm or violation of people or animals. Informed consent and data management are usually essential tools for handling research-ethical problems. Concerning animals, their suffering or use of them should instead be minimized or completely replaced.
In recent decades, legal aspects, such as requirements for specific ethics permits, have played an important role in sharpening research ethics requirements. Each researcher is responsible for ensuring that her or his research has the necessary ethics permits. KTH is responsible for preventive measures, advice, and support related to research ethics. However, the legislation primarily aims to prevent the most serious violations and focuses on a risk analysis before the project.
Third parties may use some research results in harmful or oppressive ways. Research at KTH is often technical, with broad application possibilities. That is why it is particularly relevant that research is applied in ways that are not oppressive, harmful, or offensive. More on the regulation of dual-use technology can be found on KTH’s website for export control.
In addition to legal requirements, research communities continue to have a great responsibility to fill in the concept of research ethics with content in a way in which scientific and legal requirements, as well as ethical discernment, are integrated into the same practice.
Contact
For questions about research ethics, contact the advisor at the Research Support Office via researchethics@kth.se.
Do you have questions regarding clinical tests? Contact the advisor at the Life Science Platform and read more about ethics review application support for research activities involving humans and animals .
For more information, please consult the left-hand menu. For general information about research ethics, visit the Codex website .