Code of Ethics Administrator(s) Project Administrator / Monika Sieberová Approved by Operational Director / Emilie Zichová 30.11.2011 Executive Director / Tomáš Hruda 30.11.2011 Coordination Board 14.12.2011 Applicable from 01/01/2012 Version 002/2012 Annexes European Charter for Researchers and a Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers  Code of Ethics, version 002/2012 2 / 11   Content 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................. 3 1.1 PURPOSE .................................................................................................................................. 3 2. PRINCIPLES ................................................................................................................................... 4 2.1 GENERAL ETHICAL PRINCIPLES ................................................................................................... 4 2.2 RESEARCH FREEDOM ................................................................................................................. 4 2.3 PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY ................................................................................................. 4 2.4 PRINCIPLES OF PUBLICATION ...................................................................................................... 5 2.5 TREATMENT OF CONFIDENTIAL DATA ........................................................................................... 5 2.6 INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY TREATMENT ........................................................................................ 6 2.7 FAIR, RESPECTFUL AND EFFICIENT USE OF THE PROJECT’S INFRASTRUCTURE................................ 6 2.8 CONDITIONS FOR RESEARCH ON PATIENTS AND ANIMALS.............................................................. 7 3. LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS............................................................................................................ 8 4. GLOSSARY..................................................................................................................................... 9 5. CHANGES FROM PREVIOUS VERSION.................................................................................... 10 6. ANNEXES ..................................................................................................................................... 11 Code of Ethics, version 002/2012 3 / 11 1. Introduction CEITEC (Central European Institute of Technology) is a project focused on the establishment of a European centre of excellence in the area of life sciences and advanced materials and technologies. Common Rules for Quality Management, Human Resources Management, Cooperation with the Application Sphere, Code of Ethics and Common Publication Policy are an integral part of the management and coordination of the centre in all CEITEC Organisational Units and the Central Management Structure. 1.1 Purpose The integrity of the whole project is maintained by common rules and policies. The Code of Ethics is the key document covering ethical principles. The purpose of this document is to establish a set of ethical principles and standards to guide the CEITEC partners to achieve the goals and objectives of the project. The CEITEC Code of Ethics (the “Code” hereinafter) is based on standard principles (best practises) used by CEITEC’s Strategic Partners. It also fully recognizes The European Charter for Researchers1 and the Declaration of Helsinki2 . As stated in other CEITEC documents, certain standards are emphasized. Specifically, they are:  General ethical principles  Research freedom  Professional responsibility  Principles of publication  Treatment of personal data  Intellectual property treatment  Fair, respectful and efficient use of the project’s infrastructure  Conditions for research on patients and animals                                                              1 The European Charter for Researchers is a set of general principles and requirements which specifies the roles, responsibilities and entitlements of researchers as well as of employers and/or funders of researchers, released by European Commission in 2005. Available at: . 2 World Medical Association: Declaration of Helsinki - Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Human Subjects. Available at: < http://www.wma.net/en/30publications/10policies/b3/17c.pdf>. Code of Ethics, version 002/2012 4 / 11 2. Principles 2.1 General ethical principles No CEITEC employee should be discriminated against in any way on the basis of gender, age, ethnic, national or social origin, religion or belief, sexual orientation, language, disability, political opinion, social or economic condition. All CEITEC employees should be familiar with the project’s strategic goals and they should be mindful of CEITEC’s good reputation and name. They should also be familiar with national, European or institutional legislative frameworks and adhere to them, specifically to The European Charter for Researchers and Declaration of Helsinki (see Annex 2 and Annex 3). Researchers should adhere to the recognized ethical principles and fundamental ethical principles relevant to their discipline. In the case of specific project, researchers should also adhere to the relevant ethical standards as documented in the various national, sectoral, and institutional codes of ethics as well as to a multi-disciplinal code of ethics. 2.2 Research freedom Researchers should focus their research on making advances for the good of mankind and on expanding the frontiers of scientific knowledge, while enjoying the freedom of thought and expression, and the freedom to identify methods by which problems are solved according to recognized ethical principles and practices.3 2.3 Professional responsibility Researchers do not duplicate research previously carried out elsewhere and should make every effort to ensure that the research is relevant to society. Researchers do not publish work redundantly or fragment their publications or results of research without good reason, i.e. divide them unnecessarily into multiple publications for the purpose of increasing the number of publications. All internal and external cooperation should be properly contracted. The exploitation of centre’s infrastructure (both tangible and intangible assets), IP or any other knowledge created within or for the centre must always be fully used for the benefit of the centre. All professional assessments, evaluations, opinions and decisions must be conducted independently and based purely on scientific principles and free of personal interests.                                                              3 The European Charter for Researchers, released by European Commission in 2005. Available at: . Code of Ethics, version 002/2012 5 / 11 All CEITEC employees should exert their best effort to avoid any conflict of interest. Should a conflict of interest arise, it is to be reported by the employee to his/her direct superior, who is responsible for taking appropriate measures. Researchers at all career stages and other CEITEC employees should continually develop themselves by regularly updating and expanding their skills and competencies. They can achieve this in different ways, e.g. by attending seminars and courses, in formal training activities, through participation in workshops, by attending conferences, etc. 2.4 Principles of publication All CEITEC researchers should be familiar with the Common Publication Policy of the CEITEC project. Scientific publication is governed by certain ethical principles that should be followed by authors, editors, manuscript reviewers, and publishers. Researchers must avoid any kind of plagiarism and adhere to the principles of intellectual property. All sources must be properly quoted and listed in a bibliography. Researchers also quote the relevant works that are not in accordance with their assumptions and interpretations of results. Unless the data have been updated and the conclusions modified, the same manuscript should not be published in more than one publication (e.g. a paper published in the proceedings of a workshop should not be published as such in a journal, but it may be offered to a journal if its content has substantially changed since it appeared in the workshop proceedings). The editors and reviewers of CEITEC partners must treat manuscripts as confidential communications and not divulge their contents without the consent of the author(s). Reviewers are responsible not only for unbiased, objective critical analysis of manuscripts but also for completing their duties within the time allotted. The publisher (an Organisational Unit of the CEITEC project or other) must clear the manuscripts with author(s) to ensure that changes in meaning have not occurred during copy editing. Specific conditions are described in detail in the Publication Policy of the CEITEC project.  2.5 Treatment of confidential data For the purposes of this policy, the term, ‘confidential data’, refers to private project / centre information or other private organizational and personal information not intended to be disclosed outside the context of the organization responsible for that information. Specific conditions are described in detail in the Common Rules for Quality Management of the CEITEC project. Code of Ethics, version 002/2012 6 / 11 2.6 Intellectual property treatment The property rights to the IP generated by CEITEC employees are derived from the labour relation of researchers and other employees generating the results concerned. All IP must be treated in accordance with ethical principles and the use of such IP must take into account the potential contribution to society. Protection of IP (e.g. patenting, licensing) is carried out only if the scientist is convinced of its quality and benefits for society. Specific conditions are described in detail in the Common Rules for Cooperation with the Application Sphere. 2.7 Fair, respectful and efficient use of the project’s infrastructure Common rules and obligations of all users will lead to an open and transparent system of infrastructure use that acknowledges the scientific quality and impact or contribution of individual projects. All users of the infrastructure have the same right while using the infrastructure, however, the price of infrastructure use or services provided may vary. The system of pricing and using the infrastructure is defined in the Common Rules for Cooperation with the Application Sphere. All partners use the infrastructure for the same price. All users of the project’s infrastructure should follow instructions for the use of equipment or access to the laboratory as stated by its owner and these general principles:  Ensure that the research infrastructure is used with respect to the principles of fairness, effectiveness and only for the specified purposes  Define clear and realistic objectives and deliverables for the project using the research infrastructure and communicate them as defined in the Common Rules for Cooperation with the Application Sphere  Ensure that the human, material and financial resources entrusted to them are used optimally for the benefit of CEITEC  Invest in CEITEC’s future by taking long-term effectiveness into account when managing short and medium-term activities  Share with other CEITEC employees any information that could benefit them in their work, also provide advice and guidance to colleagues where appropriate and exercise adequate supervision and control over tasks that are delegated  Refrain from interfering with the settings of the research infrastructure equipment or the equipment itself, unless previously discussed with the provider  Maintain a professional environment characterized by good working relations and an atmosphere of tolerance and mutual respect  The equipment shall be treated with respect and users should take steps to avoid damage through negligence or misuse, excessive use or break downs Code of Ethics, version 002/2012 7 / 11 2.8 Conditions for research on patients and animals In clinical research involving human subjects or animals, the well-being of the individual research subject must take precedence over all other interests. Clinical research involving human subjects or animals must conform to generally accepted scientific principles. Violation of protocols governing research on human subjects is strictly forbidden. Using animals and human patients as research subjects should be allowed only after alternative approaches have proved to be inadequate. Researchers, as well as editors and publishers, all have ethical obligations with regard to the publication of research results. Researchers are obliged to make the results of their research on human subjects publicly available and they are also responsible for the correctness and completeness of their reports on the results. The positive, negative and inconclusive results of clinical research should be published or otherwise made publicly available. These principles are specified in the Declaration of Helsinki (Annex 3). Code of Ethics, version 002/2012 8 / 11 3. List of Abbreviations CEITEC Central European Institute of Technology IP Intellectual Property Code of Ethics, version 002/2012 9 / 11 4. Glossary CEITEC employee Employee of an Organisational Unit of a CEITEC partner or of the Central Management Structure. There are two basic categories of CEITEC employees: (1) research employees and (2) non-research employees. confidential data Private project / centre information or other private organisational information not intended to be disclosed outside the context of the organisation responsible for that information Code of Ethics, version 002/2012 10 / 11 5. Changes from Previous Version Date Chapter Description   Code of Ethics, version 002/2012 11 / 11 6. Annexes ANNEX 1 European Charter for Researchers and a Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers ANNEX 2 Declaration of Helsinki