Explained

Research ethics and integrity are the foundation of scientific excellence and public trust in science. The EU is committed to protecting and promoting fundamental rights, values and principles, both at home and through international cooperation in research and innovation.

The ERA Policy Agenda 2025-2027 includes a dedicated action that aims to develop a coherent and coordinated framework for a European approach on research ethics and integrity. The action aims to anticipate, prevent, tackle, and mitigate emerging ethical challenges in research and to safeguard research integrity in critical technology areas. It takes into account the recent update of the European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity and the Commission’s Recommendation on critical technology areas for the EU's economic security.

Horizon Europe leads the way in strengthening research ethics and integrity frameworks to address the challenges of new and emerging technologies and their potential impact on society and on our planet. This work is further guided by the activities of the European Group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies and the National Ethics Councils Forum facilitating expert advice and dialogue on issues where ethical, societal and fundamental rights issues intersect with the development of science and new technologies.

Horizon Europe funds projects that promote a dialogue with global partners on ethics and integrity in research, building a constructive culture through improved frameworks, tools and operational procedures supporting the research community, institutions, funders, and ethics bodies. Through these projects, the EU supports:

– the ethical development and deployment of new technologies with potentially high socio-economic impact and ensures that scientific and technological progress go hand in hand with European values (projects TechEthos and iRECS);

– a responsible, trustworthy, and human-centric design and development of the next generation of artificial intelligence (project AIOLIA);

– research ethics in environmental and climate technologies by developing an ethics and integrity framework for research and innovation in the European Research Area (project RE4GREEN);

– the analysis of ethical and normative aspects related to organoids and their ethical governance (HYBRIDA);

– changes in research ethics reviews by supporting researchers and Research Ethics Committees in addressing new challenges posed by new technologies and new research practices (project CHANGER)

– development of a framework to safeguard ethical values during accelerated research efforts undertaken in crisis situations (project PREPARED);

– behavioural and evidence-based approach in research ethics and research integrity in Europe with robust methodologies for impactful training (BEYOND);

– the development of research integrity standard operating procedures for the prevention, detection, and handling of research misconduct in research institutions (project SOPs4RI)

– supports the development of the governance for the advancement of responsible research and innovation (projects Integrity and Path to Integrity);

– promotes the importance of open science as a mechanism for reinforcing research integrity (project ROSiE);

– the developments of the guidance to facilitate the responsibilities of involving citizens and non-traditional stakeholders in scientific research (project PRO-Ethics).

On this page, you can find selected resources and tools, ongoing projects, and insights on outcomes and impacts of Horizon Europe support for research ethics and integrity.

Resources and tools

The Embassy of Good Science

A community platform that promotes research integrity among all those involved in research and fosters understanding, collaboration, sharing of resources, and awareness around Good Science. It hosts a repository of materials that help in every-day research practice of Good Science.

ENERI Classroom

A training and capacity-building resource on research integrity and ethics for research integrity advisory boards, committees handling allegations or working with research integrity policy development, research integrity officers and advisors, research integrity ombudspersons, research ethics committees, and experts and officers in EU-bodies. By Horizon Europe project iRECS.

ROSiE Knowledge Hub

Guidance on how to conduct Open Science responsibly in everyday research practice, following established ethical and integrity principles and values. The guidelines primarily apply to research but may also be suitable to processes leading to innovation. By Horizon2020 project ROSiE.