
Duration
September 2022 to August 2024
Dual use and misuse of research results
The possibility of dual use and misuse of research results "Dual Use research of concern (DURC)" poses a number of ethical and legal challenges for researchers, research institutions as well as research funding institutions. On the one hand, it raises an ethical dilemma between ensuring the freedom of research and minimising the possibility of misuse. On the other hand, the possibility of misuse is often merely the flipside of the socially relevant research benefit, and complete avoidance of misuse can therefore only be had at the sacrifice of valuable contributions to addressing social challenges.
The concepts of security-relevant research and the misuse of research results are linked to both conceptual and research ethics issues, which will be explored during the summer school. From the conceptual point of view, it is important to clarify when a research project must be classified as security-relevant or when its anticipated results are prone to misuse. In terms of research ethics, it is important to determine which well-founded options exist to deal with security-relevant research and the potential for misuse of research projects.
The Research Centre Jülich (FZJ) will host a summer school on dual use and misuse of research results ("Dual Use research of concern (DURC)") from 17th to 21st July 2023. The event is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and organized by the Institute for Neuroscience and Medicine 7 Brain and Behavior of FZJ.
The summer school offers international junior researchers/scientists from different disciplines the opportunity to present their own work and research projects on the topic and to discuss them intensively with each other or with internationally renowned experts. The contributions of the participants will be complemented by lectures of experts. It is also planned to make visits to the relevant laboratories and research institutes in order to provide practical insights.
All contributions to the summer school will be published in a collective volume (an anthology or a journal special issue). In addition, a common set of recommendations will be developed for the work of research ethics committees.