Research Ethics Week

Research Ethics Week is an annual week-long series of college and department-led educational opportunities focused on professional development and best practices to promote, maintain, and model high standards of ethics and integrity in research. Research Ethics Week 2023 will be held February 27 - March 3, 2023. Research Ethics Day will be held March 1, 2023.

If you’d like to submit a presentation to be posted on the website, please complete the Research Ethics Week Presentation Submission Form.

Research Ethics Week (UMN logo above text)

February 27 - March 3, 2023

Please forward all planned activities, seminars, webinars, round-table discussions, and other events that your programs will be held during this week to rinta015@umn.edu (Dani Rintala, RIACT Director) for posting on the website. Events will be posted here as they become available. 


Powering Trustworthy Research: The Role of Statistical Power in Producing Reliable Empirical Conclusions

PRESENTED BY THE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY CONSULTING CENTER
Monday, February 27, 12:00 PM
Register for the Presentation over Zoom

Speaker: Ethan Brown, Associate Director, RMCC

The role of statistical power in producing reliable findings will be discussed.

Contact Ethan Brown, ecbrown@umn.edu, with questions.
 

GEMS Platform: Promoting FAIR-ER (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable, Ethical, Reproducible) Data Practices

PRESENTED BY THE GEMS INFORMATICS INITIATIVE, A COLLABORATION BETWEEN THE COLLEGE OF FOOD, AGRICULTURAL, AND NATURAL RESOURCE SCIENCES, AND OVPR RESEARCH COMPUTING
Tuesday, February 28, 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Join the webinar - no registration required.

Speaker: Phil Pardey, Professor, GEMS Informatics Center, CFANS; Kevin Silverstein, Scientific Lead, Minnesota Supercomputing Institute, RIO

Are you wondering where you can go as a University researcher to readily store and share your data with other lab members, plus other internal and external research collaborators? Concerned about the privacy of that data? Do you want to follow best practices for documenting your data so that others may find and interoperate with your data sets? If this is of interest, please tune into this webinar.

The GEMS Platform enables secure data sharing and analytics, and is free to use for UMN researchers. The platform adheres to and promotes FAIRER data practices by design. We will describe the data storage, sharing and analytical features of the platform, followed by a demo of its capabilities, leaving time for questions as they arise.

Contact Phil Pardey, ppardey@umn.edu, with questions.
 

Best Practices for Indigenous Research: Policy Development & Implementation

PRESENTED BY THE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS, AND THE HUBERT H. HUMPHREY SCHOOL OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS
Tuesday, February 28, 2023, 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM
Attend this presentation, no RSVP required: Zoom Webinar Link

Speaker: Karen Diver, Inaugural Senior Advisor to the President for Native American Affairs at the University of Minnesota

Join this one hour session during RIO’s Research Ethics week featuring Karen Diver, inaugural Senior Advisor to the President for Native American Affairs at the University of Minnesota. Karen will present “Best Practices for Indigenous Research: Policy Development and Implementation”. This talk will highlight the work being developed at the University of Minnesota to provide new guidelines and policy in conducting research with Indigenous communities with a special focus on ethics that inform this work. The session will be facilitated by Vicente M. Diaz Chair, Department of American Indian Studies, Director, The Native Canoe Program, Department of American Indian Studies. Questions will be welcome from the audience after the presentation.

Contact Sara Veblen-Mortenson, veble001@umn.edu, with questions.
 

Conflicts of Interest & Commitment in Research

PRESENTED BY THE OFFICE OF INSTITUTIONAL COMPLIANCE
Tuesday, February 28, 2:00 - 3:00 PM CST 
Join the webinar (no registration required) Zoom Meeting Link

Speaker: Boyd Kumher, Chief Compliance Officer and Jon Guden, Associate Director, Conflict of Interest Program

Overview of issues arising from research in which individual researchers or the University have a financial conflict of interest. Topics include COI review and management process, human participant research conflicts, use of university resources, subawards/subcontracts, commercialization, endorsements. 

Contact Jon Guden, jguden@umn.edu, with questions.
 

What Makes Your Research Trustworthy? Threats and Opportunities

PRESENTED BY THE RESEARCH AND INNOVATION OFFICE; CONSORTIUM ON LAW AND VALUES IN HEALTH, ENVIRONMENT & THE LIFE SCIENCES; MASONIC CANCER CENTER; AND CLINICAL AND TRANSLATIONAL SCIENCE INSTITUTE
Wednesday, March 1, 2023, 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Conference Website: What Makes Your Research Trustworthy? Threats and Opportunities

Speakers:

Susan M. Wolf, JD, Regents Professor; McKnight Presidential Professor of Law, Medicine & Public Policy; Faegre Baker Daniels Professor of Law; Professor of Medicine; Chair, Consortium on Law and Values in Health, Environment & the Life Sciences, University of Minnesota

Shashank Priya, PhD, Vice President for Research and Innovation; Professor of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota 

Kathleen Hall Jamieson, PhD, Elizabeth Ware Packard Professor of Communication; Director, Annenberg Public Policy Center, University of Pennsylvania

Brian A. Nosek, PhD, Professor of Psychology; Executive Director, Center for Open Science, University of Virginia

Lyric A. Jorgenson, PhD, Acting Associate Director for Science Policy and Acting Director of the Office of Science Policy, National Institutes of Health (NIH) 

Rebecca Keiser, PhD, MSc, Chief of Research Security Strategy and Policy, National Science Foundation (NSF) 

Derek M. Griffith, PhD, Professor of Health Systems Administration; Professor of Oncology; Founding Co-Director, Georgetown Racial Justice Institute (RJI); Founder and Director, Center for Men's Health Equity in the Racial Justice, Georgetown University 

Pat Furlong, RN, BSN, President & CEO,  Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy (PPMD)

Angela Byars-Winston, PhD, Professor of Medicine; Director of Research and Evaluation, UW Center for Women’s Health Research; Associate Director, Collaborative Center for Health Equity; Faculty Lead, Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research, University of Wisconsin - Madison 

C.K. Gunsalus, JD, Director, National Center for Professional and Research Ethics (NCPRE); Professor Emerita of Business; Research Professor, Coordinated Sciences Laboratory, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 

Veronique Kiermer, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer, PLOS, the Public Library of Science; Former-Executive Editor, Nature 

Ivan Oransky, MD, Co-Founder, Retraction Watch; Editor-in-Chief, Spectrum; Distinguished Writer in Residence, Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute, New York University 

Join interdisciplinary experts to hear how to promote and ensure trustworthiness in scientific and other research. Optimizing and signaling the trustworthiness of research is crucial to maintaining the trust of colleagues, participants, those who apply our research, and the wider public. National leaders will discuss the expectations of all these collaborators and audiences, including research funders, partners, participants, trainees, and journals. As a large, public, land-grant research university, we aim to explore these vital issues with our faculty, staff, trainees, students, and community, as well as a national audience. A complete conference agenda, speaker biographies, planning and advisory committees, and resources for the conference are available on the Conference Website

Contact Matt Tveter, tvet0004@umn.edu, with questions.
 

Panel Discussion: Ethical Considerations in Research

PRESENTED BY UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA - MORRIS
Wednesday, March 1, 2:15 PM
Attend in-person at: John Q Imholte Hall, Room 109

Speaker: Peter Dolan, Associate Professor, Computer Science; Kerry Michael, Associate Professor, Psychology 

Moderator: John Hamerlinck, Director of Grants Development

Ethical concerns in research are widespread. They include such considerations as honesty, integrity, objectivity, confidentiality, human subject protection, responsible publication, and many others. Panelists will talk about the ethical considerations in their own work, and respond to audience questions.

Faculty, staff, and students are invited to attend this panel and open discussion on the topic of research ethics. 

Contact John Hamerlinck, hamer111@morris.umn.edu, with questions.
 

Institutional Review Board (IRB) 101 for Early Stage Investigators

PRESENTED BY THE SCHOOL OF MEDICINE, CENTER FOR WOMEN’S HEALTH RESEARCH
Thursday, March 2, 1:00 PM CST
Register for the Presentation: RSVP Link

Speaker: Jeffery Perkey, CIP, MLS, Senior IRB Analyst at the University of Minnesota Human Research Protection Program

Jeffery Perkey, CIP, MLS, Senior IRB Analyst at the University of Minnesota Human Research Protection Program discusses the general requirements for the University of Minnesota Institutional Review Board (IRB) while providing specific guidance for navigating the UMN IRB. This session is perfect for de-mystifying the IRB process for early-stage faculty and investigators so they can locate all of the resources available to them while upholding best practices in the responsible conduct of research.

Contact wmhealth@umn.edu, with questions.
 

Ethical Manipulation of Scientific Images

PRESENTED BY THE SCHOOL OF MEDICINE, UNIVERSITY IMAGING CENTERS, DEPARTMENT OF NEUROSCIENCE
Thursday, March 2, 12:30 PM - 1:30 PM
RSVP for this presentation: Zoom Webinar Registration

Speaker: Guillermo Marques, Scientific Director, University Imaging Centers

Digital images are a key tool in biomedical research, allowing fast, unbiased, and reproducible quantification. At the same time, improper manipulations of digital images (accidental or intentional) are a serious threat to the rigor and reproducibility of scientific research. Furthermore, high-profile cases of fraudulent image manipulation seriously damage the public trust in scientific research. This presentation will cover the nature of a digital image, the basic dos and don'ts of digital image manipulation, and some strategies to ensure the integrity of scientific imaging data.

Contact Guillermo Marques, marques@umn.edu, with questions.
 

Understanding Community-Level Ethical Concerns of Community-Engaged and Participatory Research

PRESENTED BY OFFICE OF PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT
Thursday, March 2, 2:00 PM
Register for the Zoom Presentation: Presentation Registration

Speaker: Kayla Lyftogt, PhD (University of Minnesota, 2022), Assistant Director of Analytics and Member Engagement at Iowa and Minnesota Campus Compact

Although the Belmont Report and associated federal regulations were written to protect individual research participants from undue risk and harm, Community-Engaged and Participatory Research teams are concerned about insufficient protection of community-level ethics. This session will explore some of the basic ethical concerns inherent in community-engaged and participatory research and discuss recent research that examined IRB and institutional responses to these community-level concerns.

Contact Kayla Lyftogt, lyfto002@umn.edu, with questions.
 

Building a Culture of Interdependency, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Research, Creative Scholarship & Engagement

PRESENTED BY THE COLLEGE OF DESIGN
Thursday, March 2, 3:00 PM CST
RSVP for the Presentation here: RSVP Link

Speakers: Ji Youn Shin, Assistant Professor, Product Design, College of Design; Terresa Moses, Assistant Professor, Graphic Design, Director of Design Justice; Greg Donofrio, Associate Professor, Architecture, Director of the Heritage Studies & Public History Program, Affiliate Faculty in the Humphrey School of Public Affairs; Linsey Griffin, Assistant Professor, Apparel Design, Human Dimensioning© Laboratory Director

Please join a one-hour session featuring four faculty members from the College of Design who are building a culture of Interdependency, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in research, creative scholarship and community engagement. Each panelist will give a short presentation. Methods that will be discussed include, exploring asset-based approach as a frame for design researchers to perform reflexivity with healthcare community partners; amplifying the Black voice and narrative through design, abolition, and collective liberatory lenses; and removing the barriers of university walls by placing traditional lab research in the community in an effort to understand diverse body proportions. Discussion based on questions from the audience and panel, will follow the presentations. Time permitting, panelists will offer resource (books, publications) recommendations and share key takeaways from the discussion.

Contact Malini Srivastava, Associate Dean for Research, Creative Scholarship and Engagement, malini@umn.edu, with questions.
 

Workshop: Building Research Trust Through Financial Transparency

PRESENTED BY THE HUMAN RESEARCH PROTECTION PROGRAM
Friday, March 3, 10:00-11:30 AM CST
Register for the Presentation: RSVP Link

Speakers: Representatives from the HRPP and Research Community

This will be an interactive, 90-minute workshop. Attendees of this session will hear how trust is an important value for all involved in research, and how financial transparency, from informed consent, and research visits to study completion, is an essential component to establishing and maintaining trust with the public and research participants.

Representatives from different perspectives will discuss the importance of understanding the financial considerations and potential impacts that participating in research might have, and discussion on how to clearly provide that information to allow potential participants to make an informed decision.

Learning Objectives

  • Describe the guiding principles of why transparency is paramount in supporting a culture of trust for research participants
  • Define where the responsibility for research-related injury lies for a participant, both in federally funded and non-federally funded studies
  • Discuss the hidden costs related to participant compensation
  • Examine institutional and individual conflicts of interest that may impact trust

Contact Courtney Jarboe, Assistant Director, HRPP, cjarboe@umn.edu, with questions.
 

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Research

PRESENTED BY THE COLLEGE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE
Friday, March 3, 12:00 PM CST
Watch the Presentation here: Join the Webinar (no RSVP required)
Attend in-person: Registration required (capacity limit of 50). Location: the Pomeroy Student-Alumni Learning Center, Room 215.

Speakers: Peter Larsen, PhD, Co-Director, Minnesota Center for Prion Research and Outreach, Assistant Professor, Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, Tiffany Wolf, DVM, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Veterinary Population Medicine, Roberta O'Connor, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, Marissa Milstein, DVM, PhD, Postdoctoral Associate, Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, and moderated by CVM Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Elizabeth Martinez-Podolsky.

Join us for this one-hour panel featuring four researchers of the College of Veterinary Medicine discussing ethical considerations on research methods and practices working with global and local communities. In this panel, participants will review the university’s protections and compliances and learn from researcher panelists about ways that research can be more intentionally and ethically guided utilizing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion as a lens and approach.

Contact Elizabeth Martinez-Podolsky, mart6114@umn.edu, with questions.
 

Ethics in the Context of Family Caregiving: Implications for Practice and Research

PRESENTED BY THE SCHOOL OF NURSING
Pre-recorded presentation
Watch the presentation: Recording of Presentation

Speakers: Theresa Harvath, PhD, RN, FAAN, FGSA, from the School of Nursing

A thought-provoking presentation and discussion of ethics in the context of family caregiving along with implications for research and practice. [Pre-recorded event.]

Contact ONRS@umn.edu with questions.