Good Chemistry – Do Chemists Need Ethics?

The European Chemical Society, EuChemS, is pleased to invite you to the webinar “Good Chemistry – Do Chemists Need Ethics?”, that will be held on Thursday 7 October 2021 (10:00 a.m. CEST).

This online event is organised in collaboration with the EuChemS Working Party on Ethics in Chemistry. This event will be chaired by Dr. Jan Mehlich (recipient of the 2020 EuChemS Award for Service and member of the EuChemS Working Party on Ethics in Chemistry).

Objectives of the webinar

Chemistry is, no doubt, a common good in that chemical science, knowledge, expertise, engineering, and innovation enable and develop countless products that have significant impact on the social and environmental lifeworld. Many of these products increase the quality of life of their users in one way or another. Yet, adverse effects of the manifestations of chemical progress are clearly visible, too. What is the role of chemical experts in the attempts to tackle this dual use potential and support the benefit side while reducing the risks? Chemical scientists, engineers, innovators, and regulators cannot simply be regarded as mere knowledge deliverers. They are interwoven into an interdisciplinary network of actors with different views and arguments in the discourse on scientific and technological development. These discourses happen on a small scale in academic research labs and corporate innovation teams as well as in large arenas such as scientific policy advise or public communication of science-driven progress. This webinar wants to raise the awareness for the inevitably normative character of much decision-making in the creative science chemistry. The role of ethics for scientific and innovative activity is not only the formulation of guidelines of good scientific practice with which the professional chemist complies but also the provision of a plausible framework for discourse competence, critical thinking, and interdisciplinary communication of facts and norms. The attendees will be guided through cases and scenarios that illustrate vividly how chemists who embrace their social responsibilities by practicing ethics skills contribute to more sustainable techno-scientific progress and innovation.