Lets’ talk Ethics was the main theme of this year’s event, which included a discussion session between the audience and a panel of experts consisting of Prof Penelope Engel-Hills (Faculty of Health and Wellness Sciences), Dr Navindhra Naidoo (Faculty of Health and Wellness Sciences), Prof Izak van Zyl (Faculty of Informatics and Design), Siyabulela Sabata (Fundani) and Prof Nic Theo (Faculty of Informatics and Design.
“Research ethics and integrity as well as responsible research conduct are critical to all research effected at CPUT. We as an Institute acknowledge our responsibility to facilitate, safeguard and promote these principles in creating an awareness that it is everyone’s responsibility at CPUT,” said Dr Hester Burger, senior researcher in the Institute for Biomedical and Microbial Biotechnology.
Researchers from across the institution were invited to the event by the Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research, Technology Innovation and Partnerships.
The event included a plenary talk titled Let stories breathe…..ethically by Dr Candice Livingston from the Faculty of Education. Livingston also chairs the Faculty’s Research Ethics Committee (FREC).
This was followed by a special breakaway session, Ethics ER (emergency room), where each CPUT FREC held information sessions to discuss specific research ethics issues within a specific field.
“The CPUT community has ample knowledgeable and experienced experts in research ethics that we as an Institute can tap into, and it was really a privilege to hear from these. The panel discussions were provocative, insightful and informative. We were also reminded about new developments in research ethics and the challenges ahead to improve our continued support and commitment to ethics at an Institutional level. More opportunities to engage on research ethics should be created where the necessary space is provided to hear the voices of all stakeholders,” said Burger.
