Ethical and responsible research principles and practices

UPC Doctoral School
Cross-Disciplinary Training Courses

MIRI seminars (SIRI) for Master students

 

Lecturer:
Jordi Domingo-Pascual (Office: Campus Nord, D6-209)
Appointments via email

Courses:
Responsible Conduct in Research and Innovation (RCiRI)

Ethics for Engineers, Researchers and Innovators (EthicsERI)

Ethics and AI (EthicsAI)

 

 

 

Responsible Conduct in Research and Innovation (Research Integrity)

The planned schedule is one session per week (3 hours/week)

Schedule:    Friday, 10:00-13:00

Language:   English

Classroom: C6-E106 Campus Nord

Dates:          September 27th – October 25th 2024

Estimated workload: 15 hours of lectures plus recommended readings

Equivalence in credits: 2 ECTS

The number of attendees is limited to 40 (first come first served)

Online attendance is not planned as the course is based on discussion of case studies and requires active participation.

This course is offered each semester (twice a year).

Registration: check the Doctoral School site

 

Outline of the course

All human activities have implications on our society. Research activity not only does but also the overall research system is based on trust. Then, responsible research conduct is of outmost importance. The goal of the course is to provide an overview of the rules and professional practices that are considered as responsible conduct of research and engineering. Ph. D. students, post-doctoral researchers and everybody involved in research and innovation must know the principles and practices that define a responsible conduct and the ones that are not appropriate and are identified as misconduct.

 

Topics include:

Introduction on Responsible Research and Innovation

Research misconduct

Authorship

Plagiarism

Peer reviews

Conflicts of interest

Mentor/mentee relationship

Collaborative research

Data Management

Intellectual Property

Information Privacy

AI tools for research

 

 

Evaluation Method

Attendance certificate will be issued at the end of the course.

Attendance is required to receive credit for the course (requirements: minimum 60% of sessions and active participation in the debates).
Signatures of students will be collected during the session to demonstrate attendance.

 

MIRI students must deliver a short report or discussion case at the end of the seminar. The report should be two or three pages long.

The report may be either:

-        A case study (comment one of the cases or articles discussed in class).

-        A case study of your own selection.

-        A summary of one of the topics of the course.

-        A short discussion about some of the questions presented in the slides at the end of each topic.

-        A comment about one of the documents or videos given as complementary material.

 

 

Codi integritat en la recerca de la UPC (in Catalan)

Code of ethics UPC

 

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Ethics for Engineers, Researchers and Innovators

The planned schedule is one session per week (3 hours/week)

Schedule:    Friday, 10:00-13:00

Language:   English

Classroom: C6-E106 Campus Nord

Dates:          November 8th – December 20th 2024

Estimated workload: 15 hours of lectures plus recommended readings

Equivalence in credits: 2 ECTS

The number of attendees is limited to 40 (first come first served)

Online attendance is not planned as the course is based on discussion of case studies and requires active participation.

This course is offered each semester (twice a year).

Registration: check the Doctoral School site

 

Outline of the course

All human activities have implications on our society. Professional exercise in engineering, being a researcher or running innovation projects imply making decisions that are not exclusively technical, they involve ethical considerations.

Theoretical sessions are complemented with numerous examples and study cases.

Well known and recent study cases will be used as the basis of the lectures. With the discussion of the cases theoretical concepts will be presented.

 

 

Topics include:

Ethics. Introduction and theoretical approaches.

Moral behaviour, psychological aspects, common principles.

Ethics in the profession of engineering.

Character and practical wisdom.

Moral responsibility of the engineer.

Ethics in making professional decisions.

Responsibility for safety and health.

Respect for persons.

Respect to people’s privacy and intimacy.

The right use of Technology.

Responsible AI

Research and Innovation.

 

 

Evaluation Method

Attendance certificate will be issued at the end of the course.

Attendance is required to receive credit for the course (requirements: minimum 60% of sessions and active participation in the debates).
Signatures of students will be collected during the session to demonstrate attendance.

 

MIRI students must deliver a short report or discussion case at the end of the seminar. The report should be two or three pages long.

The report may be either:

-        A case study (comment one of the cases or articles discussed in class).

-        A case study of your own selection.

-        A summary of one of the topics of the course.

-        A short discussion about some of the questions presented in the slides at the end of each topic.

-        A comment about one of the documents or videos given as complementary material.

 

 

Reference textbooks

Ethics in Engineering Practice and Research (2nd Edition)

Author: Caroline Whitbeck

Publisher: Cambridge University Press 2011

ISBN 978-0-521-89787-6

 

Business Ethics in Action (2nd Edition) Managing Human Excellence in Organizations

Author: Domčnec Melé

Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Limited (Red Globe Press) 2019

ISBN 978-1-137-609175

 

[In Spanish]

Ética para ingenieros

Rafael Escolá Gil - José Ignacio Murillo Gómez

EUNSA 2000

ISBN 84-313-1744-2

 

 

Code of ethics UPC

 

 

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Ethics and AI

The planned schedule is one session per week (3 hours/week)

Schedule:    Friday, 10:00-13:00

Language:   English

Classroom: C6-E106 Campus Nord

Dates:          April-June 2025 (tbc)

Estimated workload: 15 hours of lectures plus recommended readings

Equivalence in credits: 2 ECTS

The number of attendees is limited to 40 (first come first served)

Online attendance is not planned as the course is based on discussion of case studies and requires active participation.

This course is planned for Spring Semester 2025.

Registration: check the Doctoral School site

 

Outline of the course

AI has emerged as a powerful technology and it is expected it will impact all human activities and professional developments. Some deployments pose serious concern about its ethical implications.

The course reviews some of the recommendations and guidelines published related with AI developments. Also, the main regulations and laws are examined. The course addresses the ethics of two main areas: using AI tools for research, and doing research in AI.

Theoretical sessions are complemented with numerous examples and study cases.

 

 

 

 

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