Meet the Graphene Flagship Ethics Advisory Board
The Graphene Flagship Ethics Advisory Board helps to review project proposals for ethical pitfalls and serves as an advisory body for partners with questions about best practice, safe by design products and research initiatives and other ethical quandaries.
“Ethics and the responsible push to research and innovation, isn’t simply a question of ticking the boxes when you fill in your grant application, or when you’re submitting a paper for publication,” says Advisory Board member Steven Savage a consultant for the Swedish Defence Research Agency.
“Ethics is about learning the art of questioning. Do I involve all the stakeholders? Do I take into account all of the stakeholders?” adds Norberto Patrignani Senior Associate Lecturer of "Computer Ethics" at Graduate School of Politecnico di Torino, Ethics Expert for the EU Commission and Scientific Advisor for Loccioni (Ancona, Italy).
“The ethics advisory board supports the Graphene Flagship by providing input into research activities,” says Ursula Hohlneicher of AstraZeneca, Sweden. “We have reviewed the work packages that are part of the Core Three programme, and in some cases provided input to ensure that responsible research aspects were taken into account.”
“We are also engaging with scientists to discuss ethical questions at conferences, and we’ve held the popular ’ethics gym’ which is an opportunity to learn more about ethical research and how to ask the right questions,” Hohlneicher adds.
“Today in the anthropocene era, the main question is ’are we using this new graphene technology for reducing the CO2, for changing our way of life and for sustainability?’ because today the main stakeholder is the planet,” Patrignani explains.
“Of course, you are expecting in your work to have a positive impact, but there may be impacts beyond those that you’re working towards - maybe impacts you haven’t thought of. Discuss your ideas with colleagues, with friends, with mentors, with teachers,” Savage urges.
”If any of you have any ethical dilemmas or questions about ethical research, please feel free to reach out - we are here to support you,” says Hohlneicher.
Learn more about the Graphene Flagship Ethics Advisory Board and how to reach them.
Today in the anthropocene era, the main question is ’are we using this new graphene technology for reducing the CO2, for changing our way of life and for sustainability?’ because today the main stakeholder is the planet.
Politecnico di Torino, Ancona, Italy
Author bio
Graphene Flagship
Bringing together 118 academic and industrial partners in 12 research and innovation projects and 1 coordination and support project, the Graphene Flagship initiative will continue to advance Europe’s strategic autonomy in technologies that rely on graphene and other 2D materials. The initiative, which builds on the previous 10-years of the Graphene Flagship, is funded by the European Commission’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme. The 2D-Experimental Pilot Line, addressing the challenges of upscaling 2D material production processes for the semiconductor industry, is another key component of the Graphene Flagship eco-system.