RESEARCH CONDITIONS. The Faculty Board has decided to create a new council with a focus on research ethics. The council will begin work on July 1 and will be chaired by Björn Rydevik.
The new council is being established after a long period of preparation. The Faculty Board decided to create the council at the board’s March 21 meeting.
The council is being established in response to developments taking place in several research fields, where both new knowledge and new techniques are rapidly developing and are providing new opportunities that previously could not have been foreseen. The council will work to ensure that research ethics are observed in our faculty and that awareness of ethical aspects grows. In other words, it will not become involved with concrete cases of misconduct.
The chair will be Björn Rydevik, who until last fall was chair of the university’s Central Ethical Review Board. Sven Wallerstedt will also be a member of the council. Sven also has extensive experience with ethics issues through his work on the Ethical Review Board. The other members of the council will be appointed by the Research Council, the Council for Third-cycle Study courses and Programs and the Education Council. In addition, the Västra Götaland region will be represented on the council, the student union will designate a doctoral representative and an additional member will represent patient associations. If necessary, other members may be brought in, such as experts in research ethics or individuals with experience in the ethical treatment of animals.
Since the fall of 2016, a joint working group within Sweden’s medical faculties has been discussing how research ethical issues should be handled and supported. At the latest meeting, this group came to the conclusion that the medical faculties should participate in efforts to produce material that can be used for teaching, mainly for incoming postdoctoral researchers and visiting researchers. Sahlgrenska Academy will be represented in the working group preparing this material, and the chair of the Council for Research Ethics has been proposed to be this representative.
TEXT: ELIN LINDSTRÖM CLAESSEN
PHOTO: JOHAN WINGBORG/GU
