Research Ethics
Here you will find information regarding legislation and guidelines for ethics in research and artistic research as well as presentations from seminars and workshops on ethics hosted by the Faculty of Fine Art, Music and Design.
Main content
UiB and research ethics
The scholarly and academic freedom that we benefit from in Norway requires that the research society and research and higher education institutions established ethical guidelines for research. The Norwegian Act on Universities and University Colleges §1 (5. paragraph) on Scientific Freedom and Responsibility states that "Universities and university colleges must advance and protect the academic freedomThe institutions have a responsibility to ensure that teaching, research, and professional and artistic development work maintain a high academic standard and are conducted in accordance with recognized scientific, artistic, pedagogical, and ethical principles".
The increased focus on research ethics work at the University of Bergen (UiB) has engendered a university-wide portal on research ethics, where one can find good and updated advice on ethical issues in both research projects, doctoral work, and student assignments. Here, there is also an overview of courses, training, and studies in research ethics at UiB. UiB also has 10 ethical rules for research from 2006, which can be found in the regulations collection at UiB here:
The university and faculties are responsible for handling cases of possible and suspected violations of recognized research ethical norms. Cases of a more serious nature that involve suspicion of scientific misconduct shall be investigated by the local committee on research integrity at the Faculty of Fine Art, Music and Design (KMD) before possibly being forwarded to the central committee on research integrity at UiB for further assessment.
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The local research ethics committee at KMD
All faculties at the University of Bergen (UiB) have local research ethics committees. These committees are tasked with strengthening the university's efforts to detect, handle, and report potential breaches of recognized research ethical standards. The committee must have the necessary expertise in research and research ethics and is responsible for investigating cases where scientific misconduct is suspected.
"Scientific misconduct refers to fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, and other serious breaches of recognized research ethical standards committed intentionally or through gross negligence in the planning, execution, or reporting of research" ().
The Faculty of Fine Art, Music and Design (KMD) established its local research ethics committee on September 7, 2023. The committee will serve until July 31, 2025. The committee members are:
- (Chair and Vice Dean for Research, Faculty of Fine Art, Music and Design).
- (Professor, Department of Design).
- (Professor, Grieg Academy - Department of Music).
- (Professor, Academy of Fine Art - Department of Contemporary Art).
Reports of potential breaches of recognized research ethical standards should be submitted to the head of the relevant department. Alternatively, they can be reported anonymously using a reporting form available for all employees at the University of Bergen.
Relevant legislation
National committess for research ethics
The national research ethics committees are tasked with ensuring that research conducted under public and private auspices adheres to recognized ethical standards. They achieve this through preventive work, advisory services, decisions, and the investigation of individual cases of potential research misconduct.
The work of the committees is anchored in the .
European guidelines for research ethics
is a common framework for all scientific disciplines, developed by ALLEA – All European Academies in 2017.
Rette: Personal data in research projects and student assignments
UiB has developed a privacy portal which can be visited here. Research projects and student assignments that collect and store personal data must be reported in UiB Rette. The processing of personal data in connection with scientific research projects, student assignments, and quality assurance and development projects must be registered in UiB's system for the overview, risk assessment and compliance with GDPR legislation:Ìý.Ìý
Guidance for registering "Contact Information" in RETTE:
Created by: PhD candidate
Project manager: main supervisor*
Responsible unit: Faculty of Fine Art, Music and Design -> Department of Design, the Art Academy or the Grieg Academy
As a supervisor, you have an additional responsibility to ensure that all parts of the project follow research ethical guidelines and that participants in the project are treated in an appropriate manner. Therefore, the main supervisor is listed as the project manager in RETTE.
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Presentations and material from internal seminars 2020-21 with KMD Research Committee and PhD Committee
Research ethicsÌý(presentasjon fra veilederseminar pÃ¥ KMD, 2024)
Ìý(Anne Helen Mydland and Nina Malterud, 2020)
Aslaug Nyrnes (professor 2 at KMD and professor at HVL):
Jostein Gundersen, visedekan for forskning ved KMD og førsteamanuensis:Map Ethics! A method for identifying and addressing ethical dimensions of artistic research projectsÌý(Gundersen, Malterud, Mydland, Nyrnes, Sveen).Ìý
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Map Ethics! The KMD part ofÌýthe Erasmus+ projectÌýAdvancing Supervision for Artistic Research Doctorates.
Map Ethics! Proposal for workshop format at PhD level with a non-normative approach to ethical issues, and several texts about ethics in artistic research.
This is the result of KMD’s work package in the Erasmus+ project .
Link to presentation of
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