Abstract:

Funding of research proposals by the European Commission (EC) requires not
only scientific excellence and innovation, but also ethical conduct of research. For this
reason, the EC performs ethics review for all the research proposals that are going to be
funded, in order to check compliance with the ethics principles of research, as well as
the European and National laws, in the countries where research is conducted. The aim
of the present manuscript is to raise awareness and familiarize researchers with the
ethics review of research proposals, as conducted in the EC, through the eyes of two
ethics experts.
Firstly, the stages of the ethics review process are described, which is performed
with the assistance of independent ethics experts. The criteria which are provided and
monitored by the Ethics and Research Integrity Sector in the EC are then presented in
detail. Based on these criteria, the possible outcomes of an ethics review are analyzed,
which may include the formation of specific requirements that need to be fulfilled by the
researchers. Specific reference is made to the requirements that may result when a
research proposal involves collection, processing and storage of personal data according
to the General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679, because this Regulation entered
into force recently in the ethics review.
Finally, reference is made to the importance of ensuring integrity in research
thought the ethics review process, and the necessary compliance with the ethics
standards of EC-funded research.