How can we ensure that participants give their genuinely informed consent? What should be provided to control groups during clinical trials? How can we weigh the risks and benefits of various studies? How can we ensure scientific integrity in research? When should we conduct research with vulnerable populations, such as children and people in low- and middle-income countries? How should we interpret the Tuskegee syphilis study from a historical perspective?
There’s never a shortage of questions; it’s the answers that are harder to determine. For example, what type of consent is appropriate for biobanking research? When are the risks and benefits of research appropriately balanced? What special protection mechanisms are needed to include “vulnerable” study populations? How can we ensure scientific integrity in research? During this course, you will tackle these and other issues, while learning to apply theoretical insights to recent cases.
Research Ethics has been accredited by ABAN (KNMG) with 15 credits.
By the end of the course, you should be able to:
- Discern the morally salient dimensions of a research project, and come to a well-considered judgment about the acceptability of such a project
- Reflect on moral dilemmas for researchers and Research Ethics Committees, and be able to systematically analyze such dilemmas
- Weigh the various arguments involved, and work towards a well-reasoned position or decision
Our Professors
Rieke van der Graaf MSc PhD
Rieke van der Graaf is an assistant professor medical ethics at the UMC Utrecht. She studied classics and theology at Leiden University and has written a PhD thesis on 'Ethical fundamentals in human subjects research. On equipoise and human dignity' (2010). Her current research interests are global justice in international research, the integration of care and research, and the ethics of innovative research designs.
Frank Huisman PhD
Professor Frank Huisman studied History at Groningen University. In 1992, he earned his PhD at the Free University in Amsterdam with a thesis on early modern Dutch health care, for which he was awarded the five-yearly Lindeboom prize. In 2006 he was appointed professor in the History of Medicine at the University Medical Centre in Utrecht, where he is also a member of the Descartes Centre for the History and Philosophy of the Sciences and the Humanities.
Hans van Delden MD PhD
Professor Hans van Delden is professor of medical ethics at the Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care of the medical school of Utrecht University. At the Julius Center he has built a strong group of ethicists devoted to high quality education in the medical humanities and research, primarily in research ethics and end-of-life issues. He is the president of the Council of International Organisations of Medical Sciences.
Kit Roes MSc PhD
Kit Roes is Director Quality and Patient Safety of the University Medical Center Utrecht and Professor of Biostatistics at the Julius Center. He joined the UMC Utrecht in 2009, after a career in industry. His experience includes over 15 years in research and development in the pharmaceutical industry and life sciences research and 10 years of experience in industrial statistics.
