21 research institutions signed the research integrity agreement

On 1 November, Estonian universities, research institutions, the Estonian Research Council and the Ministry of Education and Research signed the Estonian Code of Conduct for Research Integrity Agreement.

By joining the Estonian Code of Conduct for Research Integrity Agreement, the research institutions confirmed that they respect the main values of research and the principles of action described in the text of the Estonian Code of Conduct for Research Integrity finalized in 2017 in cooperation between Estonian research institutions, the Estonian Academy of Sciences, the Estonian Research Council, and the Ministry of Education and Research.

 Professor Margit Sutrop, Head of the Centre for Ethics at the University of Tartu, said that we are still at the beginning of a long road ahead. Every research institution retains the right to decide how to raise its members’ awareness of these principles, how to ensure their observance and how to establish procedural rules for dealing with cases of misconduct. “Now, when the document is finally signed, it is necessary to think how research institutions, individually or in cooperation, could help researchers in practice so that they would have the best conditions for doing their work in an ethically appropriate way. The institutions must also be ready to deal with possible cases of misconduct,” Professor Sutrop explained.

As of today, 21 research institutions have signed the the Estonian Code of Conduct for Research Integrity Agreement and by signing have agreed to follow the code. In addition, the Estonian Research Council and the Ministry of Education and Research also signed the agreement.

 

The Estonian Code of Conduct for Research Integrity Agreement was signed by

Bio-Competence Centre of Healthy Dairy Products LLC

Cybernetica AS

Competence Center of Food and Fermentation Technology

Estonian Academy of Arts

Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre

Estonian Biocentre

Estonian Business School

Estonian Crop Research Institute

Estonian Literary Museum

Estonian National Museum

Estonian University of Life Sciences

Institute of the Estonian Language

National Institute of Chemical Physics and Biophysics

National Institute of Health and Development

Software Technology and Applications Competence Center

Tallinn University

Tallinn University of Technology

The Competence Centre on Health Technologies

Under and Tuglas Literature Centre of the Estonian Academy of Sciences

University of Tartu, including Tartu Observatory

Estonian Research Council

Ministry of Education and Research

 

The proposal to sign the Estonian Code of Conduct for Research Integrity Agreement was made to all 22 positively evaluated research and development institutions in Estonia. The names of all the signatories will be published alongside the Estonian Code of Conduct for Research Integrity and the Estonian Code of Conduct for Research Integrity Agreement on the homepage of the Estonian Research Council. 

Additional information: Margit Sutrop, Head of centre for Ethics, margit.sutrop@ut.ee