520007 SE Science career development II: Responsibility of and in research (2020W)

This seminar for PhD students aims to provide them with a space to learn about and reflect upon questions of responsibility in science, and of science towards society. In todays world, science & technology have the potential to quite fundamentally change the worlds we live in. Therefore researchers are increasingly encouraged to reflect on societal benefits and concerns related to their research fields. Amongst others, the principle “Responsible Research” is increasingly highlighted by universities and funding institutions. In this workshop, PhD students learn to reflect about responsibility and to relate this reflection to their own work. This means thinking about how to do research and what responsibilities are related to this (often labelled “good scientific practice”). But it also means thinking about what the knowledge produced potentially means for wider societal contexts.
The seminar is organized in a very interactive way and will consist of discussion intensive lecture parts and discussion groups among PhD students.
Debating with colleagues and developing ideas together on what it means to act responsibly in concrete research practices are of key importance for the didactic approach of this seminar. The skills and practices developed in the seminar support a more nuanced communication of one’s own scientific research to different audiences, but are also valued in many areas of contemporary labor markets in academia and beyond.
In the framework of the current COVID-19 regulations of the University of Vienna, the seminar (max. 15 participants) will be held in presence in the lecture room of the Department of Science and Technology Studies. Students self-identifying as belonging to a COVID-19 risk group are kindly asked to contact the lecturers to find a viable solution.