Ethics and good scientific practice

The new regulations on the doctorate at ETH specify that doctoral students must acquire at least 1 ECTS credit by attending a course on the topic of ethics and good scientific practice (Rector’s Implementation Provisions for the ETH Zurich Ordinance on the Doctorate, 10.2).

This does not apply for doctoral students enrolled under the previous regulations (and who did not choose to complete their doctoral studies according to Art. 36 of the new ordinance on the doctorate). Nevertheless, all doctoral students are most welcome to earn some of their credits with courses on ethics and good scientific practice.

A list of suitable courses can be found on the ETHics Resource Platform: check with your department to find out which courses can be credited to “Ethics and Good Scientific Practice”.

Students in PhD programs part of external pageLife Science Graduate School should also check the external pagecourses on the website of the Life Science Graduate School.

"Ethics and Scientific Integrity for Doctoral Students"

In addition to the existing courses, some departments or doctoral schools offer an ethics course specifically for doctoral students.

This course introduces doctoral students to ethical issues that may occur during their research activities. After an introduction to ethics and good scientific practice, participants are familiarised with resources that can assist them with ethical decision-making (e-learning module on Moodle). In the second, face-fo-face part, participants will have the opportunity to critically discuss their knowledge and share their experiences with fellow doctoral students in a discipline specific context.

If your department offers a course, please register for your department’s course. The same goes for doctoral schools.

Course offers in spring semester 2024:

For more information please contact .

Information on prevention of plagiarism at ETH Zurich.