In this digital era, technologies are appearing faster than their ethical considerations can be weighed. As research evolves, maintaining high ethical standards is essential to winning public trust in scientific work.
The EU-funded irecs project aims to enhance the credibility of scientific research by strengthening research ethics expertise and competencies. irecs will achieve this by improving the understanding of research ethics in Europe and by training researchers and research ethics reviewers to anticipate and mitigate ethical issues in four technologies: genome editing, AI in healthcare, Extended Reality and biobanking.
Additionally, in collaboration with the European Network of Research Ethics and Research Integrity and the Embassy of Good Science, irecs will establish a unified community for research ethics practitioners, policymakers, and other stakeholders.
The overall objective of this project is to improve the availability and accessibility of research ethics training, education and provide ethics review tools at the European level, including the unique challenges of AI research.
In terms of specific objectives, the project aims to:
Develop a comprehensive research ethics training curriculum that covers a wide range of topics, including ethical principles, research design, data management, and publication practices, as well as the unique challenges of AI research ethics.
Deliver research ethics training and education programs through a variety of formats, including in- person workshops, online courses, and webinars.
Establish a research ethics training and education network that brings together experts and stakeholders from across Europe to share knowledge, resources, and best practices.
Create a suite of digital content and tools to support the training and education programs, including interactive modules, videos, and case studies, that also address the unique challenges of AI research ethics.
Develop a digital tool that allows Research Ethics Committees RECs to efficiently manage the review of research proposals.
Organise a young researcher competition for the creation of social media content on AI research ethics topics and and facilitate participation in Researchers’ Night events.
Foster better communication and collaboration between researchers and Research Ethics Committees (RECs) through the organisation of workshops and training sessions for both groups, particularly focusing on AI.
