What We Aimed for with the Annual Meeting

Published 06-10-2023

Under the theme "Ethics Leads the Way", the scientific ethical committee system held an annual meeting for researchers, companies, and others engaged in clinical trials with medicine and testing of medical equipment. What did we aim for with the annual meeting?

A highly detailed illustration of a human heart with a network of vessels, against a pale background with floating cells.

The 2022 annual meeting aimed to demonstrate to the committee system and our external world that research ethics in Denmark is necessary, relevant, and very much alive!

  • We gave the day a theme that is an ambitious promise and a guideline for the coming year's scientific ethical work: Ethics Leads the Way.
  • We opened the event to our external world by inviting partners from the political, commercial, and academic parts of the landscape that is clinical research.
  • We offered a glimpse into our engine room, where one can see how we contribute to making Denmark one of the most attractive countries in the EU for health research.
  • And then we looked into the future: organoids, AI, internables.

A visionary annual meeting? Judge for yourself:

A robust scientific ethical system is society's guarantee that both ethics and scientific quality characterize Danish health research.

We must continuously ensure that our committee system can embrace tomorrow's research projects. Our responsibility is to secure both quality and ethics in health research. We can only do this if we are interested in how we meet the future.

Denmark led the way by establishing the committee system. Now, The Danish National Center for Ethics leads the way by preparing ethics to look forward. And it is no longer just a task for doctors and lawyers. Philosophers, biologists, pharmacists, engineers, and communicators are also needed.

Research ethics is an ambassador for Denmark

Research should not stay within national borders. By leading the way, we also have the opportunity to influence internationally.

When Danish ethics becomes EU ethics, we gain influence and attention. Denmark is listened to because we deliver well-thought-out scientific ethical solutions that are based on curious interaction with our surroundings.

We are moving towards Ethics by Design

It became clear at the Annual Meeting that research ethics needs to be brought to the forefront and become part of the foundation for how research is designed - Ethics by Design. Now it's our job to get others, besides the Annual Meeting participants, the standard-bearers of scientific ethics, to see the value it will bring.