Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) is becoming a trendy term — especially since it became a key issue in the EU programme for research and innovation, Horizon2020. But what does it really mean? It refers to a wide range of aspects linking science and innovation to society at large. It is not only about society taking part in research (the so-called citizen science), but also the initial decisions on what type of research should be done and open access to results, gender equality, scientific education, ethics, and governance. Several centres at the PRBB are involved in projects relating to some of these concepts. Ellipse, the monthly publication of the PRBB, has asked Gema Revuelta, director of the Center for Studies of Science, Communication and Society of the Pompeu Fabra University (CCS-UPF) and responsible for the HEIRRI project, to tell us more.
” Responsible researchers are better equipped to answer to society’s expectations and values, and understand how to adapt, anticipate and reflect on their work” said Gema Revuelta. That’s what the HEIRRI project (Higher education institutions and responsible research and innovation) tries to achieve: to integrate the concept and practices of RRI into the curricula of universities and other higher education institutions. To this end, we have developed 10 open-access training programmes addressed to different university levels (Bachelors, Masters, PhD, MOOC, trainers, and summer schools) to help embed the RRI notion in different institutions around the world.
The November issue of the Ellipse newspaper also has an interview with Roger Strand, from Bergen University, is an expert in ‘theory of science’ — or as he calls it, research on research. He is a member of the Norwegian Academic Council for Science and Technology Studies and was chair of the European Commission Expert Group on Indicators of Responsible Research and Innovation in 2014-15. Gema Revuelta invited Strand to the PRBB to give a talk entitled “Responsibility in research from a co-production perspective“.
More information: https://www.prbb.org/system/uploads/ellipse/file/117/El_lipse_num__109_nou.pdf
Este blog cuenta con la colaboración de la Fundación Española para la Ciencia y la Tecnología – Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación