Monday, March 16, 2009
Colloquium: Ethical Parallel Research or Consultancy?
A role for applied ethics within TNO
Anke van Gorp, TNO-Quality of Life, 3:30pm, Monday, March 16th 2009, room a3.100, TBM building
On Monday, March the 16th Anke van Gorp will speak about her role in the development of applied ethical research within TNO.
TNO is a large RTO (Research and Technology Organisation) with 4500 employees. Research ranges from food safety to working relations and from GIS to perinatal care. TNO was established by law to do applied research for government, SME’s and larger companies. Within TNO I’m developing applied ethical research. Part of this research is a form of ethical parallel research within larger projects. This ethical parallel research is different from the university based ethical parallel research. These differences can be problematic. For example, the ethicist is part of a project team and therefore not independent. The ethicist can be critical, but should also be cooperative. Some ethical issues need to be resolved or decisions need to be made, so the project can go on. Reflection on the role of ethicists within an RTO such as TNO and within projects is necessary.
