Ethics committee

Ethics committees in the higher education sector are committees set up at public universities, private universities and universities of applied sciences that are not subject to directives and primarily review and critically assess applied research involving human subjects.

In the hospital sector, ethics committees are provided for by federal law in Section 8c of the Federal Hospitals and Health Resorts Act (KAKuG). In § 30 of the Universities Act 2002 (UG), this obligation is adopted for medical universities or universities at which a medical faculty has been established.

In addition, other public universities and private universities have also set up ethics committees or ethics advisory boards, as the question of the ethical compatibility and professional responsibility of certain studies and research is becoming increasingly important in today's world. The ethical principles of the European Charter for Researchers and other international standards are also observed. The remit and composition of the committee are regulated autonomously in the rules of procedure and reflect its research orientation.

Ethics committees are to be distinguished from institutions at some universities that offer support to students and researchers on issues relating to research ethics and research integrity. As a rule, however, research projects are not reviewed.

For the purposes of the points mentioned under the tasks of the committee, the DPU introduced a voluntary Committee for Research Integrity and Ethics (Ethics Committee or EC).

Univ.-Prof. Mag. Dr. PhDr. Wilhelm Frank, MLSv
Leader of the Commission on Research Integrity and Ethics

Contact: ethikkommission@dp-uni.ac.at