H2020, CALL Swafs-2-2018, “ITHOS – Innovative training methods for nurturing a culture of ethics and research integrity”, Member of Ethics Advisory Board

ITHOS aims to support the cultivation of a culture nurturing ERI (Ethics and Research Integrity) by providing innovative training not only to early career researchers and undergraduate students, but also to secondary students who will soon choose a professional career as well as their teachers who are at the forefront of cultivating responsible future citizens. The curricula devised will help all trainees to explore the nuances of ERI, its key principles and its grey zones and how to recognise and confront them so as in the long-term to enhance research transparency, improve public confidence in S&T, and create high-value, high-skilled employment that will work on research-driven innovation that will empower Europe to successfully outperform its competing neighbours. For the accomplishment of these objectives, innovative training curricula will be devised including state-of-the-art educational and pedagogical approaches.

ITHOS combines innovative pedagogies (arts and service learning) with a behavioural change component (nudging) in order to foster experiential and emotional learning and support the development of skills and values that will enable learners to get a deep comprehension of the various dimensions and factors related to ERI. Two curricula will be developed; one for secondary education pupils and one for university students and early carrier researchers ensuring that the learning objectives, content and educational activities included in them are aligned to the needs and interests of the two different learner’s cohorts.

The project will carefully design dramatized scenarios aiming to raise ethical considerations and dilemmas and stimulate debates and discussions during and after the drama activities.  In that way a deeper learning will be achieved while ethical and critical thinking skills will be developed. In addition, an EU wide competition will be organised to enable learners to further reflect upon their understanding on ERI by writing essays and position papers or expressing themselves through other means such as paintings, filming, photography, documentary, etc. As already mentioned two different curricula will be developed that will be adapted to the age of the learner’s groups. For example, for pupils the curricula will focus on improving their understanding on the ethical dimension of science while for university students and early carrier researchers the focus will be on enabling a deeper understanding of the ethical dilemmas and