Contributors


The Research Ethics Initiative is the culmination of contributions by many individuals in the Jacobs School of Engineering as well as others within and beyond UC San Diego. Some of these individuals are recognized below.

Research Ethics Initiative 

  • Research Ethics Initiative Faculty Director: Jose Restrepo
    Professor, Department of Structural Engineering

NSF Grant Leadership

Institutional Transformation: Empowering Faculty to Cultivate a Culture of Ethics in Engineering

Focus Groups on NSF Grant

As part of an initial needs assessment, five focus group discussions were convened with faculty, postdoctoral scholars, and graduate students from the Jacobs School of Engineering. To encourage frank and open discussion, identities of focus group participants are kept confidential, but some overall demographics of the participants are summarized below:

  • Total Participants = 31 (Faculty, 14; Postdocs and Grad students, 17)

    Departments #
    Bioengineering 5
    Computer Science and Engineering 6
    Electrical and Computer Engineering 4
    Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering 4
    NanoEngineering 3
    Structural Engineering 3
    Other 2
    Total 31

Survey

Based on findings from the focus group discussions, a survey was distributed to the Jacobs School of Engineering community to solicit further feedback on key issues raised. Demographics of the respondents are summarized below:

  Number
Graduate Students 75
Postdocs 15
Faculty 71
Unidentified 31
Total 192
Departments % of responses
Bioengineering 17%
Computer Science and Engineering 15%
Electrical and Computer Engineering 22%
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering 20%
NanoEngineering 14%
Structural Engineering 13%
Total 100%

Retreat

Results of the focus group discussions and survey served as a starting point for discussion among participants in a 2-1/2 day retreat convened to articulate goals, proposed interventions, intended outcomes, and strategies for assessing impact. Participants included graduate students, postdocs, and faculty of the Jacobs School of Engineering as well as internationally recognized leaders in the field of research ethics:

  • Carina Arboleda, Graduate Student, NanoEngineering, UC San Diego
  • Pranjali Beri, Graduate Student, Bioengineering, UC San Diego
  • Tom Bewley, Ph.D., Professor, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, UC San Diego
  • Andrew Brightman, Ph.D., Professor, Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, Purdue University
  • Karin Ellison, Ph.D., Professor, Center for Biology and Society, Arizona State University
  • Elizabeth Heitman, Ph.D., Professor, Ethics in Science & Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern
  • Michael Kalichman, Ph.D., PI, Director, Research Ethics Program, UC San Diego
  • Phillip Kyriakakis, Ph.D., Postdoc, Bioengineering, UC San Diego
  • Mengying Li, Ph.D., Postdoc, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, UC San Diego
  • Thomas Litzinger, Ph.D., Professor, College of Engineering, Pennsylvania State University
  • Francis Macrina, Ph.D., VP of Research and Innovation Emeritus, Virginia Commonwealth University
  • John McCartney, Ph.D., Professor and Chair, Structural Engineering, UC San Diego
  • Carl Mitcham, Ph.D., Professor, Division of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, Colorado School of Mines
  • Michael Mumford, Ph.D., Professor, The Center for Applied Social Research, University of Oklahoma
  • Dena Plemmons, Ph.D., Director Research Ethics Education Program and Professor, UC Riverside
  • Cindy Schairer, Ph.D., Co-Investigator, Postdoctoral Researcher, UC San Diego
  • Dan Sievenpiper, Ph.D., Professor and Vice Chair, Electrical and Computer Engineering, UC San Diego
  • Elizabeth Simmons, Ph.D., Co-PI, Executive Vice Chancellor, UC San Diego
  • Jan Talbot, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, NanoEngineering, UC San Diego
  • Dean Tullsen, Ph.D., Professor and Chair, Computer Science and Engineering, UC San Diego
  • Rebekah Yohe, Ethics Programs Manager, UC San Diego
  • Kun Zhang, Ph.D., Professor and Chair, Bioengineering, UC San Diego

Guidelines Documents Workgroup

One of the principal recommendations based on the focus groups, surveys, and retreat was to develop guidelines for the Jacobs School of Engineering, starting with the areas of Principles of Responsible Research, Mentoring, Data Management, and Authorship. Initial drafts of these documents were generated by a workgroup comprised of the following individuals:

  • Tom Bewley, Ph.D., Professor, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, UC San Diego
  • John McCartney, Ph.D., Professor and Chair, Structural Engineering, UC San Diego
  • Mia Minnes, Ph.D., Associate Teaching Professor, Computer Science and Engineering, UC San Diego
  • Dan Sievenpiper, Ph.D., Professor and Vice Chair, Electrical and Computer Engineering, UC San Diego
  • Kesong Yang, Ph.D., Associate Professor, NanoEngineering, UC San Diego
  • Kun Zhang, Ph.D., Professor and Chair, Bioengineering, UC San Diego

Guidelines Documents Discussions

A series of eight discussions were convened to review and refine each of the four guideline documents prepared by the Workgroup. For each document, one discussion was restricted to graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, and a second discussion was open to the community.

  Number
Graduate Students and Postdocs 10
Faculty 5
Staff 2
Total 17
Departments #
Bioengineering 4
Computer Science and Engineering 2
Electrical and Computer Engineering 2
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering 2
NanoEngineering 4
Structural Engineering 2
Other 1
Total 17

External Evaluation Panel

An External Evaluation Panel provided feedback on plans for the focus groups as well as early drafts of plans for the questionnaire and stakeholder retreat. Their comments and suggestions were a valuable addition to our plans, but the results do not necessarily represent the views of the Panel.

Evaluation Panel Chair: Brian Martinson, Ph.D., HealthPartners Institute, Minnesota

Evaluation Panel Members:

  • Michael Loui, Ph.D., Purdue University, Indiana
  • Joseph Herkert, D.Sc., Arizona State University, Arizona
  • Indira Nair, Ph.D., Carnegie Mellon University, Pennsylvania