Bioengineering, virtual reality, autonomous systems and many other technologies enter into society and our daily lives with the potential to radically transform our work, health, environment, and even our privacy and personal interactions. To reconcile the needs of research and innovation and the concerns and aspirations of society, ethical and societal considerations should be grafted onto the thinking of research and development practices.
TechEthos is an EU-funded project that seeks to create ethics guidelines to deal with this type of new and emerging technologies with a high socio-economic impact. Eva Buchinger (Austrian Institute of Technology, AIT) is the lead coordinator of the project. In this interview, she presents the key concepts tackled by TechEthos and its expected impact. The project started in January 2021 and will run until the end of 2023.
Question: What are the aims and rationale of the TechEthos project?
Eva Buchinger:TechEthos aims to facilitate “ethics by design”, namely, to bring ethical and societal values into the design and development of new and emerging technologies from the very beginning of the process.The project will provide ethics guidelines for 3-4 selected technologies. To reconcile the needs of research and innovation and the concerns of society, the project will explore the awareness, acceptance and aspirations of academia, industry and the general public alike.
TechEthos aims to facilitate “ethics by design”.
Q.: What kind of technologies are you looking at and why? Can you give one example and describe why their ethics dimensions are so significant?
E. B.: We will be looking atnew and emerging technologies with a high socio-economic impact and significant ethics dimensions. That is, part of our work will be identifying technologies that are socially, economically and ethically (potentially) disruptive.
“Disruption” is thereby understood as a generic term, referring to asignificant change, may it be positive or negative.We will decide whichhigh-impact technologies we will focus onin TechEthosat the end of the project’s first phase in July 2021. This decision will be informed by a horizon scanning process consisting of a meta-analysis combined with an expert–based impact assessment. We will consider a broad set of technologies ranging from bioengineering to cognitive technologies and smart materials.
As fornow,TechEthos understands the “ethics dimension” as relating to fundamental principles such as human rights, privacy and autonomy as well as specific concerns related to health, environment and human interactions.
Q.: What kind of impact does the project expect to have for policy and the research community?
E. B.: TechEthos is explicitly designed to serve researchers from academia and industry, research ethics committees and research integrity bodies, and governance agents such as standardization bodies, regulators, and policymakers. This will be achieved by developingoperational guidelines and codes and other ethical tools, engaging in the process with a wide rangeof ethical codes and guidelines for the target technologiesthat currently exist. This will serve as the basis for constructive interpretation and guide the determinationof how to enhance existing frameworks or supplement existing practices with new guidelines.
The goal is to create a set of principles that are action-oriented for the above-mentioned users.Given the wide range of possible technologies, it is impossible to fully anticipate how the variouscodes or guidelines will be constructed in advance.However, the methodology we are adopting issufficiently flexible to accommodate a variety of scenarios.
TechEthos is explicitly designed to serve researchers, ethics bodies, andpolicymakers.
Q.: Who is involved and why is this the best consortium to achieve the project’s aims?
E. B.: The TechEthos consortium benefits from the diversity of its partners as well as approaches. The project consists of ten scientific partners and six science engagement organisations representing 14 countries from all over Europe. The project will additionally involve a broad range of stakeholders from academia, industry, policy, and civil society. These stakeholders will contribute through interactive formats such as interviews, surveys, workshops, scenario exercises and games, and exhibitions.
The scientific partners are universities (De Montfort University, Technische Universiteit Delft, Universiteit Twente);applied research institutions (Associazione per la RicercaIndustriale, Austrian Institute of Technology, CEA Commissariat à l’énergieatomique et aux énergies alternatives, Trilateral Research) and associations specialising in research ethics(ALLEA, the European Federation of Academies of Sciences and Humanities,EUREC European Network of Research Ethics Committees Office).
The science engagement organisations are supervised by ECSITE (Association européenne des expositions scientifiques techniques et industrielles) and located in six European countries (Science Center Network Austria, iQLANDIA Science Popularization Centre, Bucharest Science Festival, Centre for the Promotion of Science, Parque de las Ciencias, Vetenskap & Allmänhet Public & Science. All of them haveoutstanding expertise in dealing with ethics of new and emerging technologies.
The well-balanced composition of the consortium together with the project’s participative multi-stakeholder approach provides an excellant basis to achieve TechEthos’s aims.
Q.: What have been the best and worst moments in coordinating a collaborative H2020 project so far?
E. B.: The best experience in coordinating such a diverse consortium is to know that we are working with the top specialists in the field to reach our highly ambitious goals. The greatest challenge may be the unavoidable moments of utmost tension before this wonderful diverse pool of expertise and excellence synergizes into an operational solution.
https://allea.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Artificial-Intelligence.png5941040alleaadminhttps://allea.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/allealogo-1-300x83.pngalleaadmin2021-04-21 12:43:502021-08-03 16:54:42How to Integrate Ethics into the Design of Disruptive Technologies
On the occasion of the 2021 ALLEA General Assembly, ALLEA and the Council of Finnish Academies are organising the scientific symposium ‘Across Boundaries in Sciences’ on 5 May. The online event is open to all upon registration and will consist of a full-day of thought-provoking discussions on today’s science boundaries with leading academics, policymakers, and civil society.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, the boundaries of science have been increasingly pushed and pulled. These tensions have shaken our understanding of science not only within the scientific system, but in relation to politics and society in general. In this evolving scenario, leading academics, policymakers and civil society will join to reflect upon three guiding questions:
How can interdisciplinary research increase the impact of science in society?
Are the boundaries between science and politics changing?
Do we need to strengthen the boundaries of science to tackle science disinformation?
The event will open with the keynote “Fostering Convergence Across Disciplines” from Prof. Riitta Hari (Aalto University). Questions regarding action-focused interdisciplinary research and the boundaries of science across regions, disciplines and generations will be discussed in the following panels, including a breakout session where participants will be able to interact within smaller groups.
In the afternoon part of the event, “Rethinking Boundaries Between Politics and Science”, participants will attend a speech by Ms Adrienn Király, Head of Cabinet of European Commissioner Mariya Gabriel, followed by the contributions of ALLEA President Antonio Loprieno and the Finnish Minister of Education and Culture Annika Saarikko.
Science Disinformation on Focus
The final panel discussion will tackle the topic of science disinformation and focus on the role of policy, science, and civil society in fighting this multidimension phenomenon in the context of the blurring boundaries of science and society.
The line of speakers will include Prof. Dan Larhammar (President of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences), Permanent Secretary Anita Lehikoinen (Ministry of Education and Culture of Finland), Prof. Jane Suiter (Director Institute for Future Media, Democracy and Society, Royal Irish Academy), Dr. Claire Wardle (US Director at First Draft News), and Roman Adamczyk (Research Coordinator at EU DisinfoLab).
The debate will also delve into the upcoming work of the ALLEA project Fact or Fake? Tackling Science Disinformation, which deals with the COVID-19 pandemic and the accompanying ‘infodemic’.
The symposium is free and open to all, but registration is mandatory. Learn more about the programme, concept, and speakers on our dedicated conference website, and join the discussion on social media at #ScienceXBoundaries.
https://allea.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/acrossboundaries_news.jpg379746alleaadminhttps://allea.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/allealogo-1-300x83.pngalleaadmin2021-04-12 15:51:462021-04-29 10:36:02Registration Open for Symposium ‘Across Boundaries in Sciences’
Legal challenges hamper the sharing of health data with researchers outside the EU/European Economic Area (EEA), a new report by European academy networks concludes. The authors call for solutions to overcome these barriers to ensure timely and straightforward research collaboration in the public sector and thereby maximize health benefits for European citizens.
In the report “International sharing of personal health data for research” published today, the European Federation of Academies of Sciences and Humanities (ALLEA), the European Academies’ Science Advisory Council (EASAC), and the Federation of European Academies of Medicine (FEAM) call on EU policymakers and legislators for a commitment to overcome the barriers in sharing pseudonymised health data with researchers outside the EU/EEA, including the ones from the public sector, preferably under Article 46 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
“EU/EEA citizens strongly benefit from international sharing of health data by allowing researchers to make best use of limited resources and to ensure that research conducted elsewhere is also relevant for patients in Europe. This must be encouraged and facilitated to maximise the individual and societal benefits to be obtained from the contribution of research participants”, emphasizes George Griffin, co-author of the report.
The GDPR was implemented before options for transferring data to countries outside of EU were operational. In particular, statutory conflicts between other countries’ legislation and EU fundamental rights have been a main challenge. This affects the direct transfer of public sector health data to foreign institutions and the possibility for external researchers to remotely access data at its original location.
When institutions in other countries have statutory conflicts that prevent them from signing the required contracts under the GDPR, there is currently no workable legal mechanism for sharing health data for public sector research. It has been estimated that in 2019 more than 5,000 collaborative projects were affected between EEA countries and the US National Institutes of Health alone. The authors stress that a solution is urgently needed, both for ongoing research collaborations as well as for new studies.
“Collecting and combining health data is fundamental for the advancement of medical research and improving disease diagnosis and treatment. For research to thrive, pseudonymised personal data often needs to be shared internationally between research groups in a straightforward and timely fashion, whilst securing the protection of personal data”, says Volker ter Meulen, co-author of the report.
In the joint report, the three European academy networks focus on how global sharing of health data benefits public research, describe the challenges imposed by data protection regulations, and provide possible solutions through adapting or expanding the existing legal framework.
About the report
The joint report is based on discussions between experts from across Europe that were nominated by member academies of ALLEA, EASAC, and FEAM and acted in an individual capacity, bringing together all relevant disciplines and expertise for this topic of great shared importance for all. The participants convened virtually in two working group meetings (June 2020 and September 2020) and an online cross-sectoral roundtable (October 2020). The resulting draft report was peer-reviewed by independent academy-nominated experts.
Key takeaways from the report
Health research is crucial for all: it benefits individual patients, population health, development of health-care systems, and social cohesion and stability.
Sharing pseudonymised personal health data for public sector research is essential to make effective use of limited resources.
Data must be shared safely and efficiently, taking account of privacy concerns: this is part of the conduct of responsible science and addressing these opportunities should be part of wider initiatives to build trust in research and researchers and to take account of patient views.
Legal challenges have resulted in impediments to data sharing with researchers outside the EU/EEA, affecting both the direct transfer of data to non-EU/EEA countries and remote access to data at its original location.
There must be increased commitment by the European Commission to urgently overcome these barriers in sharing data. Preferably, a simple and consistent operational solution would be found under Article 46 of the GDPR, whilst protecting the privacy of personal data from EU/EEA citizens.
https://allea.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Main_visual-scaled.jpg17072560alleaadminhttps://allea.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/allealogo-1-300x83.pngalleaadmin2021-04-08 09:58:132021-08-03 16:54:57European Academy Networks Call for Urgent Solution to Health Data Transfer Barriers
https://allea.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/about1762597_long-scaled.jpg15112560alleaadminhttps://allea.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/allealogo-1-300x83.pngalleaadmin2021-04-23 10:19:162021-04-26 11:51:45ALLEA President at the 2021 EUA Annual Conference
As part of the PERITIA Lectures series, Quassim Cassam, Professor in the Department of Philosophy at Warwick, will present a talk on ‘Misunderstanding Conspiracy Theories’ on 20 April 2021. Registration is open to all but mandatory.
ALLEA, together with its member the German Young Academy (Die Junge Akademie), is starting a new project on the climate sustainability of science. The initiative will review the existing knowledge, experiences and data regarding how academia can support the mitigation of greenhouse gases with changes of its working modes, for instance on academic travel-culture.
The disruption of the Covid-19 pandemic has encouraged a re-thinking of working modes and practices across all sectors, including academia. This project takes this opportunity to deepen the discussion and develop a deliberated and balanced path towards a sustainable academic system.
Attending international scientific conferences and on-site international collaboration have been major drivers of research in the past decades. Now, reducing the carbon footprint through digital exchanges and finding alternatives to emission-intensive transportation could help make academia more sustainable. At the same time, a co-benefit of digital exchanges may well be an increased international participation.
The project aims at developing a proposal that supports the transformation of academia to meet the challenge of climate sustainability without compromising on excellence in research and without diminishing international exchange and collaboration in academia.
ALLEA and the Die Junge Akademie are now in the process of gathering a European group of high-level experts with a multi-disciplinary, generational, gender and geographical balance. The selection criteria seek to encompass a wide and representative set of views within the scientific community.
In the coming months, the group will review existing findings that investigate sources of emissions in academia, collect and assess best-practice examples to reduce emissions and explore potential co-benefits arising from the implementation of changes.
https://allea.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/climate_sustainability.jpg4011200alleaadminhttps://allea.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/allealogo-1-300x83.pngalleaadmin2021-04-07 12:45:372021-07-09 12:17:00New Project to Explore Climate Sustainability in the Academic System
In this PERITIA lecture, Naomi Oreskes offers a bold and compelling defense of science, revealing why the social character of scientific knowledge is its greatest strength―and the greatest reason we can trust it.
https://allea.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Naomi-Oreskes_Peritia-lecture.png6851205alleaadminhttps://allea.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/allealogo-1-300x83.pngalleaadmin2021-04-06 14:24:502021-08-03 16:55:15PERITIA Lecture: Naomi Oreskes on Trust in Science
Last January, the ALLEA Science Education Working Group organised an expert workshop on current challenges for international large-scale studies of achievement (ILSA). Chaired by WG member Maksym Halchenko of the National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine, the meeting addressed the role of ILSAs as well as current and emerging challenges related to these studies.
A dedicated introduction to PISA (Programme for International Assessment) was presented, and participants discussed examples of assessment discrepancies when applied to heterogenous countries where school systems are very different. This webinar was recorded and is now available to the wider public.
Introductory Remarks | Watch – Meeting chair Dr. Maksym Halchenko, National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine
The impact of PISA on the development of educational research and evidence-based decision-making | Read abstract| Watch – Prof. Benő Csapó, Professor of Education, University of Szeged, Hungary
Circulation of a mediated artefact. Questioning the consequences of PISA for education – the example of Poland | Read abstract| Watch – Dr. Piotr Zamojski, Assistant Professor, University of Gdańsk, Poland
Use and misuse of international large-scale assessments: Why it matters to science education and policy | Read abstract| Watch – Dr. David Rutkowski, Associate Professor with a joint appointment in Educational Policy and Educational Inquiry, Indiana University, USA; – Dr. Leslie A. Rutkowski, Associate Professor of Inquiry Methodology, Counselling and Educational Psychology, Indiana University, USA, Professor of Educational Measurement, University of Oslo, Norway
Education as a global race – or for democracy and solidarity? The side effects of PISA testing | Read abstract| Watch – Prof. Svein Sjøberg, Professor Emeritus in Science Education, Oslo University, Norway
The ALLEA Science Education Working Group is committed to supporting the further progression of science education throughout Europe to ensure students develop the necessary knowledge, skills and motivation to participate as active citizens and to pursue careers in science. Since June 2019, the group is chaired by Dr Cliona Murphy of the Royal Irish Academy.
https://allea.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/shutterstock_520698799small.jpg5431500alleaadminhttps://allea.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/allealogo-1-300x83.pngalleaadmin2021-03-30 15:21:502021-08-03 16:57:15Watch Recording: Expert Workshop on Current Challenges for ILSA
https://allea.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/scaled-0x400_research_integrity_webinar.jpg400598alleaadminhttps://allea.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/allealogo-1-300x83.pngalleaadmin2021-03-22 15:24:462021-08-03 16:57:03Webinar on Research Integrity
PERITIA – Policy, Expertise and Trust – is launching a series of public lectures from 6 April to 1 June 2021. Around the topic of ‘[Un]Truths: Trust in an Age of Disinformation’, these five meetings will explore the concept of trust and truth, both becoming contentious topics for science and democracy. Conspiracy theories disrupt political elections, disinformation campaigns target scientific consensus around climate change and vaccines, and anti-elite populism overshadows public debates. In the midst of a pandemic, citizens find themselves asking quintessential philosophical questions: what truth is, whom we can trust, or how we should trust.
Hosted by the UCD Centre for Ethics in Public Life and the American University of Armenia, the lectures are open to all upon registration via Zoom and moderated by science communicator Shane Bergin. The first part of this online series runs every second Tuesday, from April to June 2021. Participants are invited to join an interactive Q&A debate after each lecture. Registration is free.
Lecture 1: Trust in Science
6 April 2021, 17:00 CEST Naomi Oreskes, Harvard University
Lecture 2: Misunderstanding Conspiracy Theories
20 April 2021, 17:00 CEST Quassim Cassam, Warwick University
Lecture 3: The Democratic Value of Truth
4 May 2021, 17:00 CEST Michael Lynch, University of Connecticut
Lecture 4: Trustworthy Science Advice
18 May 2021, 17:00 CEST Heather Douglas, Michigan State University
Lecture 5: Trust vs. Argument
1 June 2021, 17:00 CEST Dan Sperber, Institut Jean Nicod
https://allea.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/PERITIA-Lectures-1.png6851830alleaadminhttps://allea.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/allealogo-1-300x83.pngalleaadmin2021-03-23 09:56:102021-08-03 16:56:45PERITIA Public Lectures: [Un]Truths, Trust in an Age of Disinformation
How to Integrate Ethics into the Design of Disruptive Technologies
Eva Buchinger – TechEthos coordinator, AIT
Bioengineering, virtual reality, autonomous systems and many other technologies enter into society and our daily lives with the potential to radically transform our work, health, environment, and even our privacy and personal interactions. To reconcile the needs of research and innovation and the concerns and aspirations of society, ethical and societal considerations should be grafted onto the thinking of research and development practices.
TechEthos is an EU-funded project that seeks to create ethics guidelines to deal with this type of new and emerging technologies with a high socio-economic impact. Eva Buchinger (Austrian Institute of Technology, AIT) is the lead coordinator of the project. In this interview, she presents the key concepts tackled by TechEthos and its expected impact. The project started in January 2021 and will run until the end of 2023.
Question: What are the aims and rationale of the TechEthos project?
Eva Buchinger: TechEthos aims to facilitate “ethics by design”, namely, to bring ethical and societal values into the design and development of new and emerging technologies from the very beginning of the process. The project will provide ethics guidelines for 3-4 selected technologies. To reconcile the needs of research and innovation and the concerns of society, the project will explore the awareness, acceptance and aspirations of academia, industry and the general public alike.
Q.: What kind of technologies are you looking at and why? Can you give one example and describe why their ethics dimensions are so significant?
E. B.: We will be looking at new and emerging technologies with a high socio-economic impact and significant ethics dimensions. That is, part of our work will be identifying technologies that are socially, economically and ethically (potentially) disruptive.
“Disruption” is thereby understood as a generic term, referring to a significant change, may it be positive or negative. We will decide which high-impact technologies we will focus on in TechEthos at the end of the project’s first phase in July 2021. This decision will be informed by a horizon scanning process consisting of a meta-analysis combined with an expert–based impact assessment. We will consider a broad set of technologies ranging from bioengineering to cognitive technologies and smart materials.
As for now, TechEthos understands the “ethics dimension” as relating to fundamental principles such as human rights, privacy and autonomy as well as specific concerns related to health, environment and human interactions.
Q.: What kind of impact does the project expect to have for policy and the research community?
E. B.: TechEthos is explicitly designed to serve researchers from academia and industry, research ethics committees and research integrity bodies, and governance agents such as standardization bodies, regulators, and policymakers. This will be achieved by developing operational guidelines and codes and other ethical tools, engaging in the process with a wide range of ethical codes and guidelines for the target technologies that currently exist. This will serve as the basis for constructive interpretation and guide the determination of how to enhance existing frameworks or supplement existing practices with new guidelines.
The goal is to create a set of principles that are action-oriented for the above-mentioned users. Given the wide range of possible technologies, it is impossible to fully anticipate how the various codes or guidelines will be constructed in advance. However, the methodology we are adopting is sufficiently flexible to accommodate a variety of scenarios.
Q.: Who is involved and why is this the best consortium to achieve the project’s aims?
E. B.: The TechEthos consortium benefits from the diversity of its partners as well as approaches. The project consists of ten scientific partners and six science engagement organisations representing 14 countries from all over Europe. The project will additionally involve a broad range of stakeholders from academia, industry, policy, and civil society. These stakeholders will contribute through interactive formats such as interviews, surveys, workshops, scenario exercises and games, and exhibitions.
The scientific partners are universities (De Montfort University, Technische Universiteit Delft, Universiteit Twente); applied research institutions (Associazione per la Ricerca Industriale, Austrian Institute of Technology, CEA Commissariat à l’énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives, Trilateral Research) and associations specialising in research ethics (ALLEA, the European Federation of Academies of Sciences and Humanities, EUREC European Network of Research Ethics Committees Office).
The science engagement organisations are supervised by ECSITE (Association européenne des expositions scientifiques techniques et industrielles) and located in six European countries (Science Center Network Austria, iQLANDIA Science Popularization Centre, Bucharest Science Festival, Centre for the Promotion of Science, Parque de las Ciencias, Vetenskap & Allmänhet Public & Science. All of them have outstanding expertise in dealing with ethics of new and emerging technologies.
The well-balanced composition of the consortium together with the project’s participative multi-stakeholder approach provides an excellant basis to achieve TechEthos’s aims.
Q.: What have been the best and worst moments in coordinating a collaborative H2020 project so far?
E. B.: The best experience in coordinating such a diverse consortium is to know that we are working with the top specialists in the field to reach our highly ambitious goals. The greatest challenge may be the unavoidable moments of utmost tension before this wonderful diverse pool of expertise and excellence synergizes into an operational solution.
Read more
Registration Open for Symposium ‘Across Boundaries in Sciences’
On the occasion of the 2021 ALLEA General Assembly, ALLEA and the Council of Finnish Academies are organising the scientific symposium ‘Across Boundaries in Sciences’ on 5 May. The online event is open to all upon registration and will consist of a full-day of thought-provoking discussions on today’s science boundaries with leading academics, policymakers, and civil society.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, the boundaries of science have been increasingly pushed and pulled. These tensions have shaken our understanding of science not only within the scientific system, but in relation to politics and society in general. In this evolving scenario, leading academics, policymakers and civil society will join to reflect upon three guiding questions:
The event will open with the keynote “Fostering Convergence Across Disciplines” from Prof. Riitta Hari (Aalto University). Questions regarding action-focused interdisciplinary research and the boundaries of science across regions, disciplines and generations will be discussed in the following panels, including a breakout session where participants will be able to interact within smaller groups.
In the afternoon part of the event, “Rethinking Boundaries Between Politics and Science”, participants will attend a speech by Ms Adrienn Király, Head of Cabinet of European Commissioner Mariya Gabriel, followed by the contributions of ALLEA President Antonio Loprieno and the Finnish Minister of Education and Culture Annika Saarikko.
Science Disinformation on Focus
The final panel discussion will tackle the topic of science disinformation and focus on the role of policy, science, and civil society in fighting this multidimension phenomenon in the context of the blurring boundaries of science and society.
The line of speakers will include Prof. Dan Larhammar (President of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences), Permanent Secretary Anita Lehikoinen (Ministry of Education and Culture of Finland), Prof. Jane Suiter (Director Institute for Future Media, Democracy and Society, Royal Irish Academy), Dr. Claire Wardle (US Director at First Draft News), and Roman Adamczyk (Research Coordinator at EU DisinfoLab).
The debate will also delve into the upcoming work of the ALLEA project Fact or Fake? Tackling Science Disinformation, which deals with the COVID-19 pandemic and the accompanying ‘infodemic’.
The symposium is free and open to all, but registration is mandatory. Learn more about the programme, concept, and speakers on our dedicated conference website, and join the discussion on social media at #ScienceXBoundaries.
European Academy Networks Call for Urgent Solution to Health Data Transfer Barriers
In the report “International sharing of personal health data for research” published today, the European Federation of Academies of Sciences and Humanities (ALLEA), the European Academies’ Science Advisory Council (EASAC), and the Federation of European Academies of Medicine (FEAM) call on EU policymakers and legislators for a commitment to overcome the barriers in sharing pseudonymised health data with researchers outside the EU/EEA, including the ones from the public sector, preferably under Article 46 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
The GDPR was implemented before options for transferring data to countries outside of EU were operational. In particular, statutory conflicts between other countries’ legislation and EU fundamental rights have been a main challenge. This affects the direct transfer of public sector health data to foreign institutions and the possibility for external researchers to remotely access data at its original location.
When institutions in other countries have statutory conflicts that prevent them from signing the required contracts under the GDPR, there is currently no workable legal mechanism for sharing health data for public sector research. It has been estimated that in 2019 more than 5,000 collaborative projects were affected between EEA countries and the US National Institutes of Health alone. The authors stress that a solution is urgently needed, both for ongoing research collaborations as well as for new studies.
In the joint report, the three European academy networks focus on how global sharing of health data benefits public research, describe the challenges imposed by data protection regulations, and provide possible solutions through adapting or expanding the existing legal framework.
About the report
The joint report is based on discussions between experts from across Europe that were nominated by member academies of ALLEA, EASAC, and FEAM and acted in an individual capacity, bringing together all relevant disciplines and expertise for this topic of great shared importance for all. The participants convened virtually in two working group meetings (June 2020 and September 2020) and an online cross-sectoral roundtable (October 2020). The resulting draft report was peer-reviewed by independent academy-nominated experts.
Key takeaways from the report
Download the report
ALLEA President at the 2021 EUA Annual Conference
ALLEA President Antonio Loprieno, will be attending as speaker at “Session IV: The end of disciplines?” at the 2021 EUA Annual Conference on 23 April.
PERITIA Lecture: Quassim Cassam
As part of the PERITIA Lectures series, Quassim Cassam, Professor in the Department of Philosophy at Warwick, will present a talk on ‘Misunderstanding Conspiracy Theories’ on 20 April 2021. Registration is open to all but mandatory.
New Project to Explore Climate Sustainability in the Academic System
ALLEA, together with its member the German Young Academy (Die Junge Akademie), is starting a new project on the climate sustainability of science. The initiative will review the existing knowledge, experiences and data regarding how academia can support the mitigation of greenhouse gases with changes of its working modes, for instance on academic travel-culture.
The disruption of the Covid-19 pandemic has encouraged a re-thinking of working modes and practices across all sectors, including academia. This project takes this opportunity to deepen the discussion and develop a deliberated and balanced path towards a sustainable academic system.
Attending international scientific conferences and on-site international collaboration have been major drivers of research in the past decades. Now, reducing the carbon footprint through digital exchanges and finding alternatives to emission-intensive transportation could help make academia more sustainable. At the same time, a co-benefit of digital exchanges may well be an increased international participation.
The project aims at developing a proposal that supports the transformation of academia to meet the challenge of climate sustainability without compromising on excellence in research and without diminishing international exchange and collaboration in academia.
ALLEA and the Die Junge Akademie are now in the process of gathering a European group of high-level experts with a multi-disciplinary, generational, gender and geographical balance. The selection criteria seek to encompass a wide and representative set of views within the scientific community.
In the coming months, the group will review existing findings that investigate sources of emissions in academia, collect and assess best-practice examples to reduce emissions and explore potential co-benefits arising from the implementation of changes.
PERITIA Lecture: Naomi Oreskes on Trust in Science
In this PERITIA lecture, Naomi Oreskes offers a bold and compelling defense of science, revealing why the social character of scientific knowledge is its greatest strength―and the greatest reason we can trust it.
Watch Recording: Expert Workshop on Current Challenges for ILSA
Last January, the ALLEA Science Education Working Group organised an expert workshop on current challenges for international large-scale studies of achievement (ILSA). Chaired by WG member Maksym Halchenko of the National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine, the meeting addressed the role of ILSAs as well as current and emerging challenges related to these studies.
A dedicated introduction to PISA (Programme for International Assessment) was presented, and participants discussed examples of assessment discrepancies when applied to heterogenous countries where school systems are very different. This webinar was recorded and is now available to the wider public.
– Meeting chair Dr. Maksym Halchenko, National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine
– Prof. Benő Csapó, Professor of Education, University of Szeged, Hungary
– Dr. Piotr Zamojski, Assistant Professor, University of Gdańsk, Poland
– Dr. David Rutkowski, Associate Professor with a joint appointment in Educational Policy and Educational Inquiry, Indiana University, USA;
– Dr. Leslie A. Rutkowski, Associate Professor of Inquiry Methodology, Counselling and Educational Psychology, Indiana University, USA, Professor of Educational Measurement, University of Oslo, Norway
– Prof. Svein Sjøberg, Professor Emeritus in Science Education, Oslo University, Norway
The ALLEA Science Education Working Group is committed to supporting the further progression of science education throughout Europe to ensure students develop the necessary knowledge, skills and motivation to participate as active citizens and to pursue careers in science. Since June 2019, the group is chaired by Dr Cliona Murphy of the Royal Irish Academy.
Webinar on Research Integrity
PERITIA Public Lectures: [Un]Truths, Trust in an Age of Disinformation
PERITIA – Policy, Expertise and Trust – is launching a series of public lectures from 6 April to 1 June 2021. Around the topic of ‘[Un]Truths: Trust in an Age of Disinformation’, these five meetings will explore the concept of trust and truth, both becoming contentious topics for science and democracy. Conspiracy theories disrupt political elections, disinformation campaigns target scientific consensus around climate change and vaccines, and anti-elite populism overshadows public debates. In the midst of a pandemic, citizens find themselves asking quintessential philosophical questions: what truth is, whom we can trust, or how we should trust.
Hosted by the UCD Centre for Ethics in Public Life and the American University of Armenia, the lectures are open to all upon registration via Zoom and moderated by science communicator Shane Bergin. The first part of this online series runs every second Tuesday, from April to June 2021. Participants are invited to join an interactive Q&A debate after each lecture. Registration is free.
Lecture 1: Trust in Science
6 April 2021, 17:00 CEST
Naomi Oreskes, Harvard University
Lecture 2: Misunderstanding Conspiracy Theories
20 April 2021, 17:00 CEST
Quassim Cassam, Warwick University
Lecture 3: The Democratic Value of Truth
4 May 2021, 17:00 CEST
Michael Lynch, University of Connecticut
Lecture 4: Trustworthy Science Advice
18 May 2021, 17:00 CEST
Heather Douglas, Michigan State University
Lecture 5: Trust vs. Argument
1 June 2021, 17:00 CEST
Dan Sperber, Institut Jean Nicod
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