Responsibilities of researchers Asking ourselves what responsibilities do we have towards the scientific community and society? Research is regulated by norms, rules and regulation - but ultimately it remains the researcher’s own responsibility to provide good and morally acceptable work. Plenty of guidelines for ethics codes, rules and guidelines –General (e.g. VR guidelines, Uppsala Code) –Specific to field of study (~150 links posted on CODEX under Professional ethics codes) However, not all situations can be covered by such guidelines. –Solutions to ethical dilemmas can not be based only on a set of rules or guidelines –But can be used to find the right balance between contrasting interests Two case studies from the literature –To what degree can scientists be held accountable? Are we responsible for our predictions? –Are we responsible for uncovering and reporting poor or pseudo-science? Group 3 – ethics of technology and science

The Public Third task Public’s trust in research –Secrets/silence  suspicion –Funds Early results Media

Criminal responsibility - L'Aquila quake: Italy scientists guilty of manslaughter – Science on trial  On 6th of April 2009 at 01:32 UTC, an earthquake magnitude 5.9 on the Richter scale (M6.3) stroke the city of L'Aquila in Italy  The earthquake killed 309 people and caused severe damage on infrastructure  Six scientists, members of the National Commission for the Forecast and Prevention of Major Risks, were accused of manslaughter  According to the resources available online, deputy head of Department of Civil Protection held a press conference on March 30, where allegedly he downplayed the risk of a major quake by stating “The scientific community tells me there is no danger because there is an ongoing discharge of energy”  Can you be held responsible/punished and in what level for violation of the Organized skepticism rule?

L'Aquila is located in a very seismically active area (4 – 4.8 m/s2) According to Eurocode 8 (mandatory building standard in EU since 2004), was it allowed to have buildings with no special “shock dampers” or reinforcements in that particular region? Blame it on the Scientific community, the government for not obeying construction standards or ourselves for choosing not to accept the seismic hazard map and build cheaper According to USGS (United States Geological Survey) and SNSN (Swedish National Seismological Network), Japan has about 20 – 25 earthquakes of magnitude 5.5 – 6.5 per year Example: M6.6 Honshu, Japan Earthquake of 23 October people died

The trial 6 scientists found guilty of manslaughter in ”their false scientific statement led to inadequate risk assessment” Court overturned the decision in Trial will be continued... ”Is it worth communicating with public?” What are the responsibilities of scientists?

Pseudoscience Uses Scientific vocabulary Uses Scientific sound methods But is not Scientific due to for example: -Non repeatability of experiments -Neglect inconsistent information -Interpret information for the wanted purpose

Example in references to seminar 1 makologi/ovrigt/pseudovetenskap- egna-artiklar/?languageId=3 Alternative medicine