Susana Magalhães, the coordinator of the Responsible Conduct in Research at i3S (www.i3s.up.pt) and a member of the PhasAGE Ethics Advisory Board, visited VIB (https://vib.be/en) in early September. This visit was part of the PhasAGE staff exchange program created to broaden and strengthen the coordinating institution’s research and innovation potential while also expanding the network and capacity of PhasAGE consortium partners.
Susana Magalhães (IBMC/i3S) was received by René Custers (VIB), also a member of the PhasAGE Ethics Advisory Board.
This visit was specifically intended for sharing institutional experiences and information between the research integrity officers. The agenda for discussion included a brief presentation of VIB and i3S strengths in scientific research and responsible research policy, both institutions’ integrity standards, and ethics and integrity training for researchers.
The overall balance of the action was very positive since both institutes share the same vision about the opportunities and challenges of structuring a research integrity and ethics program among their scientific communities. It was also comforting to know that i3S is successfully implementing research integrity training among its researchers in alignment with the European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity.
In the future, the integrity officers from both institutions may work together to improve the implementation of a research integrity and ethics program at the European level.
The R&I short term staff exchanges are part of the PhasAGE project WP5 – Leaping forward Research and Innovation management.