Platform for Ethics and Technology

We gladly announce the Mekel Prize 2011-2012. Once again, the Platform for Ethics and Technology is organizing this essay challenge for the best essay on ethics and technology (as you might have noticed from a poster or flyer in your faculty) for students and PhD-students. Do you have an essay or insight that could win you this wonderful award and a pretty bit of prize money to boot? Please do not hesitate to send us an entry  before August 1st and make this competition all the more interesting!

Also, please don’t forget to check the regulations.

Deadline January 21, 2011

Click on Mekel-Prize 2010  for more info

Go to Mekel-Prize -> 2009 to download the essays

Location

Room H, wing A, first floor

Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management, (TPM)

Delft University of Technology, Jaffalaan 5 Delft, The Netherlands

Hosted by the Philosophy department.

Dr. Sjoerd Zwart mail: s.d.zwart@tudelft.nl

Contact

Secretariat: Henneke Filiz-Piekhaar, mail: h.c.filiz-piekhaar@tudelft.nl

room B4.140 phone 015 2783887

Preliminary Program

     Monday January 11, 2010

13.00 Registration (tea and coffee)

13.50 Opening / Welcome (Karel Luyben rm)

14.00 Susan Sterrett

15.00 Jacob Fokkema

15.30 Mekel prize Ceremony /Tea and coffee

16.15 Jack Kleijnen

17.15 Marc Le Menestrel

18.15 Buffet for all

     Tuesday January 12, 2010

10.00 Tea and coffee

10.30 Erik Pruyt

11.30 Giorgio Gallo

12.30 Lunch

14.00 Colleen Murphy / Paolo Gardoni

15.00 Ibo van de Poel

16.00 Tea and coffee

16.30 Yao-Hua Tan

17.15 Roberto Ciuni/Gert Jan Lokhorst

18.00 Drinks

Participants invited papers

Jacob Fokkema

     Rector Magnificus 2002-2009, TU Delft

Giorgio Gallo

     Professor of Operations Research, University of Pisa

Paolo Gardoni

     Associate Professor of Civil Engineering, Texas A&M University

Jack Kleijnen

     Professor of Simulation and Information Systems, Tilburg University

Marc Le Menestrel

     Associate Professor of Economics and Business, University Pompeu Fabra

Ibo van de Poel

     Associate Professor in ethics and technology , TU Delft

Erik Pruyt

     Assistant Professor in Policy Analysis, TU Delft

Susan Sterrett

     Assistant Professor of Philosophy of Science, Duke University

Yao-Hua Tan

     Professor of Information and Communication Technology, TU Delft

Deadline July 1st, 2010

Click on Mekel-Prize for more info

Organized by Platform for Ethics and Technology and Promood

Although for many fields there are guidelines about authorship and co-authorship and which positions are assigned to whom, it is often the case that lists of authors are not discussed, but imposed upon. Departmental and other politics often affects who gets to put his or her name on which article and authorship seems to be more to do with maintaining territorial rights, colonialisation and empire building.

So who is an author of a paper? What does it involve to be an author? Ad Lagendijk, in his Survival Guide for Scientists (Amsterdam University Press, 2009), notes the following (p.59):

Each and every author of a paper should understand the basics of that paper. Each and every author should be able to give a presentation on the content of that paper. With an increasing number of multidisciplinary papers this moral standard becomes more and more difficult to uphold.

A real moral problem is the specialist who has something that is indispensable for your research - a sample for instance. The specialist understands nothing of your work, but he requests to be co-author on all the papers where you publish results obtained with his sample.

A good compromise is to put him on the first paper - sandwiched between a number of other co-authors - and leave him out on all future papers.

Which brings to light the importance of the position in the list of authors as well. So, who’s on first, what’s on second? Are you in any way responsible for the contents of a paper when you’re an author?

Promood and the Platform for Ethics and Technology are happy to announce that Dr. David Koepsell, our expert on scientific integrity, will shine his light on this fascinating topic on June 11, 2009 between 12 and 1.30pm at the Sports and Culture Centre (room number to be announced).

There will be a free lunch, please send an e-mail before June 8 to Saskia Polder (s.e.polder@tudelft.nl) when you’d like to attend.

Watch Mekelprize award ceremony and opening of conference on Privacy in Social Network Sites

click here for more info

Thursday May 15th, 12 - 2 pm (lunch will be arranged for) Location: a1.270 (the big group decision room) in the TPM-building 

As a young scientist, you will often encounter dilemma’s regarding scientific integrity. The contents of your research may also raise all kinds of ethical issues, for example on risks, sustainability or other potential consequences for society. What would be the best way to deal with them? Promood and the Platform for Ethics and Technology together organize a workshop on the ethics of engineering research for PhD students to explore this question.

More info

If you would like to participate, please send an e-mail to e.t.oosterlaken-at-tudelft.nl. There is room for 20 participants at most. Registration will be on a first-come, first-serve base.

click here for more info