Education plays an essential role in research integrity

Ambrogio Fasoli, EPFL's Associate Vice President for Research and Director of the Swiss Plasma Center, and Caroline Vandevyver, the Head of EPFL's Research Office, spoke with us about the importance of research integrity, the challenges in this area and EPFL's positions on the issues. According to Ambrogio Fasoli and Caroline Vandevyver, education and communication are key to promoting research integrity and earning the trust of industry and civil society. As part of efforts to continuously improve training and prevention, EPFL recently developed an online course called Conducting Research the Right Way . The course covers the basics of research integrity and the best practices to follow, drawing on EPFL's Directive Concerning Research Integrity and Good Scientific Practice . It's intended for all scientists and engineers as well as anyone interested in learning more about what life is like as a researcher. How would you define research integrity? Ambrogio Fasoli: I'd say it's the collection of steps a researcher can take - or not take - in order to conduct breakthrough research while meeting the highest ethical standards, so as to promote the common good. Ethics is a crucial aspect of all human endeavors, especially in the area of research. Scientific discoveries can have a broad reach in terms of geography, people and time. Today's research findings are global and cut across generations, meaning unethically obtained results can have dramatic consequences. Are the best research practices the same everywhere?