1. Ethics of Technology and Science
Seminar II
Ethics of Technology and Science
Seminar II
Nov 17, 2016
Saleh Rezaeiravesh
Céline Robo
Frida Sjögren
Kári Sveinbjörnsson
Gopi Krishna Tummala

2. Moral problem suggested
How to distribute the patent rights between supervisor and PhD student in case of sudden breakthrough?

3. The dilemma: What would you do? You are a PhD-student
Did all lab work (including much of the planning)…
…and discovered something (a drug to cure cancer) that you could potentially make a lot of money from
Funding from EU
Your supervisor does not want to put your name on patent (says everything is based on his/her ideas)
Your supervisor already owns a company and might be able to put the product on the market much faster than you could
What would you do?

4. Areas affected by the dilemma
Own career
Economy
Relationship with supervisor
Supervisor’s career
Feelings
Work culture
Social responsibility
What are the possibilities ? The risks ?
Dishonesty to scientific community. It will go back on professional responsabilites
Perfect but can lead to future conflict
Greater
Normal until problems Surfaces but future roadblocks
Normal

5. Discussion

6. What would be our choice?
Discuss politely
Demand your right
Involve higher authority
Court
Or…
patent it yourself!

7. Talk politely to supervisor
Own career: + Stays intact
- May loose claim
Economy: Might get a share
- Might get nothing
Relationship with supervisor:
+ No change
Supervisor’s career:
+ Continues and blooms because of patent
Feelings: Happy if supervisor says yes
- Feel cheated and disheartened if supervisor says no.
Work culture: + Stays normal
- Other supervisors, or this one, may do the same again
Social responsibility:
+ No risk
Most polite and least aggressive course of action. Also the least likely to result in a gain.

8. Demand the share aggresively
Own career: + May flourish if “yes”
- May get fired (or not recommended)
Economy: Might get a share if “yes”
- No salary if fired
Relationship with supervisor:
+ Might respect taking a stand
- Will go bad (more likely)
Supervisor’s career:
+ Continues and blooms because of patent
Feelings: Very happy if supervisor says yes
- Defeated, hurt and angry if supervisor says no.
Work culture: + Stays normal
- Other supervisors, or this one, may do the same again
Social responsibility:
+ No risk
More direct option but risks the relationship with the supervisor.

9. Shortcut Path- Patent It Yourself
Own career: + No possibilities
- May not get a job in the same field
Economy: you gain a lot
- No risks
Relationship with supervisor:
+ No possibilities
- Will be completely ruined
Supervisor’s career:
- It continues as it was
Feelings: You may feel good or bad
- Supervisor feels cheated
Work culture: + Paranoid atmosphere
- PhD students will suffer in long term
Social responsibility:
- Slight risk
More direct option but risks the relationship with the supervisor.

10. No actions (Just leave it to be…)
Own career: Stay normal
- Nothing happen and you do not get any credits
Economy: No gain
- you loose potential share
Relationship with supervisor:
+ Nothing happens
- Might happen again
Supervisor’s career:
+ Super good
- No risks
Feelings: no possibilities
- You might feel cheated/loser
Work culture: + no possibilities
- Not a good example for the future
Social responsibility:
+ No possibilities
More direct option but risks the relationship with the supervisor.

11. Falsify the data (to claim patent on wrong values)
Own career: Nothing happen in short term
- Can be really bad in long term
Economy: Nothing happens
- No one gain anything in log term
Relationship with supervisor:
+ Stay the same
- Goes very bad
Supervisor’s career:
+ Improves
- Can go very bad
Feelings: Revenge !
- Worried/sleepless
Work culture: Nothing happens
- Paranoia
Social responsibility:
+ No possibilities
- Huge risks !
More direct option but risks the relationship with the supervisor.

12. Legal Route- Sue the Supervisor
Own career: + No possibilities
- Jeopardizing your career
Economy: You will gain if you win
- You loose career and money
Relationship with supervisor:
+ No possibilities
- Will be ruined
Supervisor’s career:
+ Reputation may go down
- Will bloom if he/she wins
Feelings: No possibilities
- All parties concerned will be under stress and anxiety
Work culture: + Might help in developing new framework
- Bad precedent and whole university reputation may go down
Social responsibility:
- High risks as many lives may possibly be lost during legal proceedings
Most polite and least aggressive course of action. Also the least likely to result in a gain.

13. Discussion and Questions
Thank you for your attention!