Thesis subject

Responsible research practices at universities

Encouraging universities to engage in societally responsible research has been prominent in the research policy of the European Commission, but the institutional reality at many universities pushes researchers to adopt other priorities. For the RRI-Practice research project (2016-2019), twelve teams of researchers at WUR and partner institutions have charted how those institutions understand ‘responsible research’, and how they promote aspects of this, such as ethics, or stakeholder inclusion in research.

Based on the project methodology, students are invited to make an analysis of a research institution they are familiar with (not WUR) to find out what the barriers and drivers are for responsible research at that institution. Methods used will be analysis of (organisational) policy documents, media articles from and about the organisation, and possibly interviews, if fitting within the scope of the BSc thesis.