Monthly Archives: October 2012

I will present a number of ethical issues with respect to the current practices in publishing scientific papers. I will use real examples of fraud/misconduct that I have come across over the last few years and discuss how these issues are handled, how to avoid them, and what is to be learned from such examples.

Target audience: Natural/Biological/Biomedical Science Students

Objective 1: Provide a foundation for understanding the ethics of publishing a paper
Objective 2: Discuss the principles of publishing

Format: Lecture/seminar

We will discuss the classical definition of Advisor and Mentor. The distinctions between the two will be explicitly highlighted. Strategies for choosing advisors and mentors will be presented and the responsibilities each, and of the student, will be discussed.

Target audience: Natural/Biological/Biomedical Science Students

Objective 1: Understand the differences between advisors and mentors
Objective 2: Develop strategies to find effective mentoring
Objective 3: Learn how to be mentored

Format: Workshop, 2/3 interactive discussion and roundtable

Click here for a pdf of Prof. Wilkinson’s powerpoint presentation

This session will start with a brief (around 20-30 minutes) presentation that will highlight the key ethical issues that are commonly associated with research collaborations, and their impact towards the development of successful or unsuccessful collaborations. Part of this presentation will be specifically devoted to the role of graduate students in research collaborations, and the ethical issues they may face as they get involved in collaborative work. This presentation will then be followed by small group discussion (about 50 minutes) of case studies related to specific ethical issues associated with research collaborations. Finally, the instructor will conclude the session with a few slides that will highlight the take home message he wants students to pay attention to regarding ethics in research collaborations.

Target audience: Natural/Biological/Biomedical Science Students

Objective 1: Provide students the opportunity to openly discuss possible ethical issues related to research collaborations.
Objective 2: Provide students some guidance into the processes that should be followed to prevent or address ethical issues they may face through research collaborations.

Format: Brief oral presentation by instructor (30 minutes) — Small group discussion of case studies (45-50 minutes) — Concluding remarks/take home message (10 minutes).

Click here for a .pdf of the powerpoint presentation 

Despite much lip-service given to the importance of teaching, it is clear that not only is insufficient attention paid to the mechanics of teaching but that graduate students rarely are provided with an opportunity to reflect either on the overall ethical implications of teaching or on the ethical obligations one assumes by accepting the role of teacher. This workshop aims to highlight the major ethical obligations inherent within the professional role of teacher, of professor, and to provide some specific advice on how to meet those obligations. This program is designed as an interactive seminar during which the participants will be asked to engage with the instructor on issues related to the ethics of teaching or, perhaps more correctly, the ethics of being a teacher. This will take up roughly 55 minutes. The remaining 35 minutes will be spent discussing various ethically challenging teaching scenarios and appropriate responses.

Target audience: all students interested in teaching

Objective 1: Create awareness of ethical issues in teaching
Objective 2: Provide ways of addressing those issues
Objective 3: Provide practice in addressing ethical dilemmas

Format: Lecture/seminar.  This program is designed as an interactive seminar during which the participants will be asked to engage with the instructor on issues related to the ethics of teaching or, perhaps more correctly, the ethics of being a teacher. This will take up roughly 55 minutes. The remaining 35 minutes will be spent discussing various ethically challenging teaching scenarios and appropriate responses.

As information becomes available in a variety of formats, it becomes more and more difficult to identify plagiarism and to avoid it, in both research and teaching contexts. This workshop will address questions such as: What constitutes ‘fair use’ under US copyright law? Is it ethical to make a digital copy of a book for your own use? If something is available on the internet, are there any restrictions on how you can use it? This workshop will offer a basic grounding in US copyright law, a framework for making decisions on how to use sources ethically, and resources for future use.

Target audience: all students

Objective 1: Students will able to find and interpret United States copyright law in order to determine if their use of sources complies.
Objective 2: Students will be able to formulate criteria and determine if their use of a source for and/or teaching is ethical.

Format: Workshop