Teaching Research Ethics, May 15-18, 2012

Sponsors for the 2012 TRE workshop are:

• Indiana University Bloomington
• Indiana University Research Administration, Research Ethics, Education, and Policy Office
• Michigan State University
• Northwestern University
• Purdue University
• Texas Tech University
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• University of Missouri-Columbia
• University of Wisconsin-Madison

We are accepting sponsors now for 2012. See SPONSOR for details.

Teaching Research Ethics Workshop

Each year Indiana University and the sponsors listed above offer the Teaching Research Ethics Workshop (TRE) to provide training for those involved in teaching research ethics or in administering research programs. The workshop emphasizes a variety of pedagogical approaches to teaching research ethics, through sessions on ethical theory, research ethics, trainee and authorship issues, assessment and evaluation, responsible data management, integrity in research, conflict of interest, and international research.

The 2012 workshop will be May 15-18 (Tuesday 4 pm - Friday noon) at the Indiana Memorial Union (IMU) on the campus of Indiana University Bloomington. The fee is $700. Participants are responsible for their own hotel reservations. A block of rooms is available at the IMU.

• Registration
• Agenda
• Workshop Details
• Presenters
• Additional Resources

The TRE workshop includes presentations in plenary sessions, intensive sessions that meet Tuesday-Thursday, and breakout sessions that meet once. Participants select the intensive session and breakout sessions they wish to attend when they register.


Mary Brydon-Miller from the University of Cincinnati led the session on Collaboration, Mentoring, and Authorship.

The need for explicit training in research ethics for scientists is widely recognized; mentoring and modelling ethical behavior are no longer considered sufficient. Several federal agencies, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH), now require training in the responsible conduct of research as part of their National Research Service Awards training grants. Many science faculty members are eager to include research ethics in their curricula, but their training is in science, not in teaching ethics.

The Poynter Center has extensive experience in designing curricular materials for teaching research ethics and in conducting faculty development workshops in teaching ethics.


Eric Meslin from the Indiana University Center on Bioethics led the session on International Research.

The workshop has the potential to have a significant impact on universities throughout the country, affecting faculty, students, and the institutions as a whole. Faculty participating in the workshop will be able to design syllabi or course units integrating substantive issues in research ethics and will gain competence and confidence in teaching research ethics. Students of participating faculty will develop better moral reasoning skills and will be better able to recognize and act on ethical issues. Institutions of participating faculty will build a greater commitment to, and expertise and history in, incorporating research ethics in science curricula.

Funding for the first three years of the project came from the United States Department of Education's Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE), the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC), Indiana University's Office of Research and the University Graduate School, and the Poynter Center.