Week 5: Institutional Responsibility/The Whistleblower
Format:
This class session will begin with a discussion of the difficulties encountered by whistleblowers.
Using a hypothetical case scenario, students will develop their perspective on how they perceive an
institution might best respond to accusations of misconduct. The second half of the class will rely
on examples from cases that will explore the issues from the perspective of the institution.
Objectives (students will be able to):
1. Explain institutional and governmental regulations (including biosafety regulations) and policies
(including policies on misconduct) relating to the practice of scientific research;
2. Provide examples of alternative methods of dealing with misconduct (this should be done from
the point of view of a student, PI, department head, or dean);
3. Describe the responsibilities of institutions in the ethics training of graduate students and
postdocs;
4. Describe the responsibilities of the institution for enforcing institutional and governmental
regulations;
5. Describe the relevant rules and regulations including institutional conflict of interest policy.