Ethics committees advise researchers on ethical issues relating to their research. For example, whether the research meets the criteria for ethically responsible conduct. There are a number of ethics committees within Leiden University.

All research performed in the Leiden University Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences is ethically reviewed by 1 of 3 ethical review committees.

The Ethics Committee gives binding advice on ethical issues in research. This may be the case when you handle sensitive data. But also in other cases, like handling human remains, the Ethics Committee may require you to take steps to protect your data, which will implicate Research Data Management.

Ethics committees advise researchers on ethical issues relating to their research. For example, whether the research meets the criteria for ethically responsible conduct. There are a number of ethics committees within Leiden University.

Whereas ethical research rules were previously mainly associated with the sciences, today they also play an increasingly important role in the Humanities. What are the consequences of this for researchers in the Humanities? And when do you need the Ethics Committee? We discussed this question with Dorota…

From November 13 to 17 2023, a workshop on Ethics in Caribbean Archaeology was organized at the Lorentz Center in Leiden by Eduardo Herrera Malatesta (Aarhus University), Felicia J. Fricke (University of Copenhagen) and Maaike de Waal (Leiden University).

The ‘Committee for Assessing Ethical Aspects of Partnerships’ is being launched this month. This committee, created by Rector Magnificus Hester Bijl and consisting of former and present Leiden University researchers, has been tasked with assessing Leiden University’s institutional ties with organisations…

We are pleased to announce a call for papers for a conference focused on ethical practices in medical research and treatment in the colonial and postcolonial context.

Whom do you ask for permission to conduct research at a primary school? And how do you collect data in countries where freedom of expression is under threat? This is what staff directly involved in the – often complex – process of research ethics recently discussed at a meeting, with the aid of some…

While the United States continues to carry out drone strikes, and China conducts large-scale cyber and information operations, Ukrainian and Russian soldiers live in trenches, and NATO sends tanks to the Donbas front to force a breakthrough. Has war changed dramatically in recent decades as a result…

Intelligence and security services often operate in the shadows. Michael Kowalski calls for a clear, applied ethical framework as the foundation of intelligence work in a democracy.

Is it ethical to freely redistribute photographs taken in colonial contexts, historically and today? Christoph Rippe, PhD-candidate Cultural Anthropology, suggests that people might not have been always fully aware of what happened to their photographs after they were taken. 'But nowadays, with the…

From March 11th to 14th, the workshop "The Future of Ethics in Caribbean Archaeology," led by IN THE SAME SEA Postdoctoral Fellow Felicia Fricke and her colleagues Eduardo Herrera Malatesta (Århus University, Denmark) and Maaike de Waal (Leiden University, The Netherlands) took place at the Saxo Institute…

To check whether the classroom scanners are secure, a ‘pen test’ was performed in the Lipsius building on Monday 28 March. This involved switching on the person counters for a day so that ethical hackers could try to gain access to the system.

On Wednesday 7 June 2023, Dr Yvonne Erkens, Kate Verhoeff, Emma Snel, and Fleur Walravens of the Department of Labour Law in Leiden, gave a presentation on The Database of Business Ethics for the Oxford Business and Human Rights Network (OxBHR) at the University of Oxford.

Rapid developments in DNA techniques allow researchers to find out more and more about human genetics. An international group of scientists has drawn up five ethical guidelines to ensure that this DNA research is better regulated. Leiden archaeologist Marie Soressi – one of the signatories - explains…

Dr. Eduard Fosch-Villaronga from eLaw collaborates with researchers from the Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology Delhi (IIIT-Delhi) and University of Delhi (DU) in an effort to explore and reflect upon the potential legal, ethical and pedagogical challenges of deploying a social robot in…

When do you submit a thesis proposal to the Ethics Committee? And how do you ensure that students save their data properly? On 9 June, thesis supervisors will be able to ask these questions at the Ethics Education Afternoon. Professor Herman Paul and policy officer Marcel Belderbos will tell us more…

In the past decade many academic journals have started to require that researchers provide evidence of ethical review when submitting papers, for example when working with human participants or human remains.. In order to support researchers to ensure their projects are able to meet these expectations,…

Ethics in Caribbean Archaeology, a new open access volume edited by Felicia Fricke, Eduardo Herrera Malatesta, and Maaike de Waal, is already generating significant interest across the region and beyond.

How ethical is research involving humans and robots? And can research on artificial intelligence cause problems when it ends up in the wrong hands? In any research involving humans or their data, the ethics committee assesses where the issues are. Associate professor at LIACS Suzan Verberne chairs the…

In early 2026, the Ethics Committee aims to launch a new registration procedure that will allow researchers with a low ethical risk to be assessed more quickly. To assess this risk, the committee will be testing a list of nine screening questions in the coming months. Feedback is welcome.

The free AI and Ethics course (in Dutch) is available online to anyone who wants to find out more about the ethical implications of artificial intelligence. One of the eight experts featured in the course is Professor Reijer Passchier. ‘Artificial Intelligence is spreading so fast and has such an impact…

Researchers at eLaw contribute to groundbreaking volume on AI in radiology, offering legal and ethical frameworks, governance models, and solutions for responsible clinical integration.

In a world where law and morality strive for clarity, order, and control, this book challenges us to confront what has long been forgotten: the tragic dimension of existence. Drawing on the ancient wisdom of Greek tragedy and the passionate urgency of both atheist and religious existentialism, Timo…

If it was up to alumna and member of the Advisory Board Anne Marie van Rietschoten, philosophy and ethics would be part of the standard curriculum for a law degree. In our monthly flash interview with alumni, Anne Marie explains why she believes this is so important.

If we want tax evasion to become a thing of the past then there has to be more balance in how tax advisers are educated, according to tax professors Jan Vleggeert and Jan van de Streek.

In the podcast Het Geldspoor, Professor of Tax Law Jan van de Streek speaks about the profession of tax advisers. 'Tax consultants should take a firmer stance more often’, says Van de Streek.

How ethical are lobbyists? On the Night of the Lobbyist on 23 January, academics and practitioners will come together to discuss lobbying and democracy. We asked associate professor of public administration Toon Kerkhoff five questions about the world of lobbying and integrity.

Michael Kowalski has been appointed as part-time Professor by special appointment of Applied Ethics in Intelligence and Security at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs (ISGA) at Leiden University.

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