A neuroscience perspective on ethics dumping & animal data governance
Animal welfare regulation varies across the globe. While non-human primates (NHPs) are crucial in neuroscience research, their use is increasingly restricted in many countries. A recent paper in Frontiers in Neuroinformatics explores how to put an end to “ethics dumping” – where researchers move experiments to locations to circumvent animal welfare regulation – and argues…
EHDS: Meeting the Challenges of Responsible Data Governance
Data is a cornerstone for innovation and better health care. Responsible data governance is key to the public’s trust in science and the sustainability of research. The European Health Data Space (EHDS) is the European Commission’s response to the pressing need for a trustworthy health data infrastructure that reaches across member states. Needless to say,…
Human and Animal Data in EBRAINS
Brain research generates and applies big, multidimensional and multifunctional data with different levels of sensitivity. The usability, quality, integrity, availability and security of these data are critical to excellent neuroscience research and innovation. To ensure these essential qualities, as well as adherence to the FAIR data principles, EBRAINS has established a comprehensive framework and structure for…
Governance, politics & policy of Artificial Intelligence II
How does society perceive Artificial Intelligence (AI) and what do people expect from it? Is AI seen as a major force that will change global power dynamics or is it perceived as a solution to the main problems that society face today like climate change and poverty? These are some of the questions explored in…
Constructing an EU agency for AI
Artificial intelligence (AI) offers great promise in terms of societal and economic benefits. But it also raises numerous ethical and human rights concerns as the technology might inherit and exacerbate flaws that are already present in society. There have been numerous calls for the regulation and legislation of AI, most prominently the EU’s 2021 proposal…
Increasingly big data & the pressing need for international data governance of neuroscience
Understanding the brain requires great effort and the scale of neuroscience research projects is increasing to scale. This means crossing borders in big international research initiatives, and as a result being subject to national and international laws, regulations and policies in both data collection and transfer. While neuroscience data transcends borders, data governance typically stays…
Social, ethical & reflective work in the HBP: The publications list
The HBP is characterised by a profound and broad interdisciplinarity, and it is unique among the large international Brain Initiatives in having included social sciences and humanities in the core research from its very beginning, devoting approximately 5% of the budget to this end. We have compiled a list of all articles, books, and reports related…
Neuroimages, artificial intelligence & re-identification of research subjects
Taking images of the brain using magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI for short, also captures the face. For a long time, techniques that remove facial features from neuroimages have allowed for open sharing of anonymised neuroimages. But new developments in artificial intelligence and machine learning have made it possible to re-create the removed facial features…
Designing a responsible neuroscience research infrastructure
Over the past 8 years, the Human Brain Project (HBP) has tested the strengths and limitations of responsible research & innovation, also known as RRI. To mark the ten-year anniversary of RRI, a group of HBP researchers now share what can be learned from implementing this concept in a large multi-disciplinary research project. This includes…
How do we take responsibility for dual-use research?
We are more often than we think governed by old patterns of thought. As a philosopher, I find it fascinating to see how mental patterns capture us, how we get imprisoned in them, and how we can get out of them. With that in mind, I recently read a book chapter on something that is…