News Release 10-214
NSF Leads Effort to Make Ethics Resources Available to Researchers
A five-year, $5 million grant will create a center at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to put research ethics resources at the fingertips of researchers nationwide
The new online resource center will provide comprehensive access to resources related to ethics.
November 12, 2010
This material is available primarily for archival purposes. Telephone numbers or other contact information may be out of date; please see current contact information at media contacts.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has recently taken definitive steps to ensure that the science and engineering community has valuable resources at its disposal to make informed, ethical, responsible decisions in research projects and professional practices. After soliciting feedback from the community, NSF has made a five-year, $5 million grant to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to develop a national center for professional and research ethics in science, mathematics and engineering.
"This award will create a great resource for instructors, students and administrators interested in prioritizing high quality ethics training and education. This resource will be the go-to place for people interested in ethics in science and engineering education and research," said Kelly Joyce, NSF's Science, Technology, and Society Program director.
The America COMPETES Act requires that "... each institution that applies for financial assistance from the Foundation for science and engineering research or education describe in its grant proposal a plan to provide appropriate training and oversight in the responsible and ethical conduct of research to undergraduate students, graduate students and postdoctoral researchers participating in the proposed research project." To implement this important act, and to enable universities and researchers to access, implement and teach ethical standards of conduct, NSF identified an opportunity to fund an ethics education online center.
The new online resource center will develop, gather, preserve and provide comprehensive access to resources related to ethics for teachers, students, researchers, administrators and other audiences. As such, it will provide information and expertise for instructors who teach ethics, students with questions about research integrity, researchers and engineers who encounter ethical challenges in practice, administrators in universities and businesses who oversee ethics and compliance policies, scholars who conduct research on professional and research ethics, and others with questions or interests in these areas.
The center, part of the Coordinated Science Laboratory (CSL), an interdisciplinary research laboratory in the College of Engineering at Illinois, will draw on the University's collective strength in engineering, digital library technologies, mathematics, medicine, business and law, among other fields. The University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign will partner with Howard University, the National Academy of Engineering, and Public Responsibility in Medicine and Research (PRIM&R) to develop content for the site. The center will also invite ethics in science and education researchers and educators to contribute.
"Almost everybody wakes up every day and wants to do the right thing," said Center Director C. K. Gunsalus, CSL research professor and professor of business. "Many people who face ethical dilemmas know the general principles but not necessarily how to apply them in the complexity that real-life professional and research practice present. The Center seeks to create an online environment that encourages the life-long development of ethical practices through materials and interaction with other professionals."
-NSF-
Media Contacts
Lisa-Joy Zgorski, NSF, (703) 292-8311, email: lisajoy@nsf.gov
Program Contacts
Kelly Joyce, NSF, (703) 292-8543, email: kjoyce@nsf.gov
Related Websites
America Competes Act Summary, produced by the Library of Congress: http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/crs/rl34328.pdf
Press release from University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign: http://www.csl.illinois.edu/news/university-illinois-develop-national-center-ethics-science-mathematics-and-engineering
The U.S. National Science Foundation propels the nation forward by advancing fundamental research in all fields of science and engineering. NSF supports research and people by providing facilities, instruments and funding to support their ingenuity and sustain the U.S. as a global leader in research and innovation. With a fiscal year 2023 budget of $9.5 billion, NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to nearly 2,000 colleges, universities and institutions. Each year, NSF receives more than 40,000 competitive proposals and makes about 11,000 new awards. Those awards include support for cooperative research with industry, Arctic and Antarctic research and operations, and U.S. participation in international scientific efforts.
Connect with us online
NSF website: nsf.gov
NSF News: nsf.gov/news
For News Media: nsf.gov/news/newsroom
Statistics: nsf.gov/statistics/
Awards database: nsf.gov/awardsearch/
Follow us on social
Twitter: twitter.com/NSF
Facebook: facebook.com/US.NSF
Instagram: instagram.com/nsfgov