On 25 June 2021 the UniSAFE project will be presented at the 2021 edition of the Research Ethics Conference.
The conference aims at raising awareness on the importance of ethical practices in conducting research: an aspect which is often misinterpreted, underplayed or understood as a ‘tick box’ exercise. The event, starting from 9:30 to 18:00 BST, will provide a platform where academics and stakeholders who have an interest in research ethics can share knowledge, best practices, and have a fruitful discussion on ethical dilemmas.
Katarzyna Struzińska, from UniSAFE partner Jagiellonian University, will deliver a presentation on creating ethics support systems for social research on gender-based violence.
Social research involving human participants is always charged with ethical concerns and potential risks. The specific focus of UniSAFE makes it a perfect example of a project where ethics integrity is paramount: any research on gender-based violence deals with personal, sensitive data and involves vulnerable groups, with various ethical implications that need to be recognised and addressed.
To develop a knowledge base on gender-based violence in universities and research organisations, UniSAFE will combine desk-based research on the legal and policy framework in 30 European countries, a quantitative survey on prevalence and consequences of gender-based violence in 45 research organisations in 15 countries and case studies and interviews on organisational responses. A truly extensive study, with multiple levels of analysis and a sensitive topic, UniSAFE required an ethics-centred approach: to ensure that ethics is at the forefront of the project, the UniSAFE consortium has dedicated an entire work package to ethics and research integrity.
In her presentation, Katarzyna will discuss the measures introduced by the work package to ensure that the project’s implementation complies with the critical ethical principles of non-malfeasance, beneficence, respect for individuals and justice.
In particular, Katarzyna will present UniSAFE’s Ethics Helpdesk, an advisory body open to the research team members and the participants of the study, providing an insight on the various aspects to consider to provide sound ethics support for a social research project.
The Research Ethics Conference will be hosted by the University of Exeter and receives funding from the Economic and Social Research Council.
Participation in the Research Ethics Conference is free upon registration. Click here to view the abstract!
