2023-06-23

The study report of the Office looks at the ethical aspects of science-business cooperation

Cooperation between science and business is increasingly recognised as an important part of the activities of research and higher education institutions. Such cooperation is expected to bring social, economic, and other benefits to both research and higher education institutions, business, and society. Furthermore, cooperation between science and business also entails certain risks and ethical challenges. On the one hand, working in research teams can raise ethical challenges (e.g. authorship) inherent in such work. On the other hand, cooperation with business may pose additional challenges for research and higher education institutions (e.g. use of research data, obtaining positive research results).

In order to find out what ethical challenges Lithuanian researchers face when carrying out joint science-business projects, the Office organised focus group discussions. Representatives of research and higher education institutions and business took part in the discussions. The participants were asked about the ethical challenges they faced at different stages of the project process, from the preparation of the application to the completion of the project. The results of the discussions are summarised in the study report (in Lithuanian).