The Luxembourg Presidency of the Council of the European Union has held its Competitiveness Council meeting, chaired by Marc Hansen, Secretary of State for Higher Education and Research of Luxembourg. The Council has encouraged Member States to promote research integrity networks, while Science Europe has published a comprehensive review on the topic to coincide with the meeting.
At the meeting, the Council adopted conclusions on three priority topics, deemed essential for the completion and implementation of the European Research Area (ERA):
- The promotion of responsible behaviour and integrity in research activities: The conclusions, amongst other things, address the necessity to consider research integrity as essential for excellence in research, as well as the negative impact of research misconduct and how it can be prevented.
- The promotion of equal opportunities in research to achieve a better male-female balance: The conclusions revolve around a range of approaches to help ensure a fair and equal landscape in research and innovation, with the goal of enabling Europe to make the most of its talent pool of scientists.
- The establishment of an efficient and streamlined structure for the governance of the ERA: The Council reshaped the ERA advisory structure to increase its effectiveness and efficiency with regards to the implementation of the ERA.
Member States encouraged to promote research integrity networks
The Council has invited Member States and the Commission to promote existing research integrity networks, such as the European Network of Research Integrity Offices (ENRIO). The FNR has been a member of the ENRIO network since 2010, and since 2011 has maintained a Research Integrity Commission with international experts.
In December 2015, Asael Rouby, legal advice and research integrity officer of the FNR, was chosen to be part of the new board as co-chair of the European Network of Research Integrity Offices (ENRIO) for the coming three years.
Science Europe review on research integrity
To coincide with the Competitive Council’s planned adoption of conclusions on research integrity under the Luxembourg presidency, Science Europe has published a review on the topic, entitled ‘Research Integrity: What it Means, Why It Is Important and How We Might Protect It’.
The review takes a comprehensive look at research integrity, both across Europe and in the US, exploring available data on the implications of research misconduct, as well as efforts to promote research integrity. The full review is available on the Science Europe website.