The Project

Why we work

The overall goal of the PREPARED project is to develop an operational ethics and integrity framework, which safeguards key ethical values, supports a rapid and effective research response to crises and improves overall pandemic preparedness.
Our project is underscored by three pillars:

Recognize the broader perspective of a crisis
Global crises affect all aspects of humanity. We therefore cannot ignore human, social, economic and political contexts in our research ethics and integrity framework. A crisis reaching all of humanity needs everyone to tackle it.

Motivate to action with values
Rules alone do not motivate to action, but values do, which is why we develop a values-based framework for global crises.

Keep values understandable 
Clear and simple values in an organization are proven to improve the motivation for ethical conduct at work, which is why we aim to align our framework with common sense moral values.

 

Project timeline

September 2022: Launch of project

December 2022: Stakeholder needs identified (WP2)

April 2023: Completion of scoping review (WP1)

May 2023: Legal analysis (WP1) 

June 2023: Value gaps identified (WP3)

August 2023: Policy maker meetings (WP4)

August 2024:  Drafted code of conduct (WP3)

Project objectives

Objective 1

Facilitate bottom-up, solution-focused, participatory dialogue through an international network of key stakeholders with expertise on conducting research during a global crisis

Objective 2

Identify, analyse and validate emergent research ethics and integrity challenges in the context of sudden, unexpected global crisis and map these onto existing governance measures.

Objective 3

Develop a values-based framework for research ethics and integrity in a global crisis which supports rapid and effective decision-making whilst maintaining scientific reliability and ensuring the protection of research participants.

Objective 4

Propose policy options at the EU level and tailored support for relevant stakeholders in the form of operational guidelines and short complements to existing codes.

Objective 5

 Foster broad update of project outputs through strategic synergy building and the provision of engaging training materials to improve overall preparedness for global crises.