Developing Ethical Researchers: Best practice in supporting PGT students to understand and apply research ethics

The project funded by Research England under the Enhancing Research Culture funding call produced best practice guidance for colleagues around the University, in supporting PGT students to develop an ethical approach to their dissertation. This is particularly challenging for many reasons: some PGT students have no experience of conducting research; some have moved discipline and are unfamiliar with specific disciplinary research ethics principles; some completed their UG education in countries with different ethical governance requirements and different ethical standards; all are working on a compressed timeline with a full curriculum, and many start their dissertations around 6 months into their programme of study. The project used a literature review, focus groups with colleagues from UoB, and interviews with academics with relevant expertise from across disciplines in other Universities, to develop and receive feedback on the best-practice guidance.