Research

One of the main reasons for the initial establishment of ECSA was to facilitate cross-university research into ethics and ethical issues in South Australia. While considerable expertise could be found in the South Australian academic community, there was no critical mass in any one university or in other areas of the public sector. The advantages of this cross-university co-operation venture include:
  • concentrating expertise and resources in ethics
  • encouraging research collaboration across the three universities
  • facilitating multi-disciplinary research activities
  • increasing the capacity to apply for funding
  • fostering collaborative research with other national and international ethics centres.
ECSA contributes to the research directions of the three universities by:
  • facilitating multi-disciplinary research activity in ethics
  • reducing barriers to research collaboration between researchers located in separate universities
  • developing early career researchers in the field regardless of their particular university appointment
  • attracting higher degree by research candidates who will be able to benefit from cross-institutional supervision
  • increasing research publications

The research activities of the centre are organised under seven broad themes: public policy, professional practice, research ethics, science and technology, health care, indigenous ethics and ethical theory. Various research projects are fostered within each of these theme groups.

Below are listed some of the collaborative research outcomes from ECSA activities.

Current collaborative research

  • A Network of Undergraduate degrees in Ethics, Human Rights and Institutions funded by EU/Australia Cooperation in Higher Education and Vocational Education and Training (Researchers from University of Lancaster, Luiss University Rome, University of Helsinki, University of Bielefeld, Charles Sturt University, University of Melbourne, Australian National University, The University of Adelaide*)
  • Citizens juries: enabling effective influenza pandemic policy through engagement with the community funded by an ARC Linkage grant (Researchers: Braunack-Mayer AJ*, Rogers WA*, Moss JR, Hiller JE, Bi P, Salter AB, Givney RC, van Eyk H*)
  • Consent in the void: moral, legal and community values in decisions before birth and after death funded by an ARC discovery grant (Researchers: De Lacey SL*, Rogers WA*, Naffine NM, Braunack-Mayer AJ*, Richards BJ, Ballantyne AJ*)
  • Gender inequities in health research: towards a new regulatory framework funded by ARC and the University of Sydney (Researchers: Bennett W, Rogers W*, I Karpin
  • The Florey Adelaide Male Ageing Study: Promoting Health Wellbeing and Utilisation of Health Services by Middle aged and Older Men funded by Dept of Further Education, Employment, Science and Technology Premier’s Science and Research Fund. (Researchers: Wittert G, Hiller J, Andrews G, Taylor A, Findlay D, Fazzalari N, Braunack-Mayer A*, Warin M, Fenech M, Nettelbeck T, Burns N, Wilson C, Tilley W, Buchanan G, O’Loughlin P, Marshall V, Ivell R, Casson R)
  • The Morality of Cooperation and Concern funded by ARC Discovery-Projects grant (Researcher sole CI Garrett C*)
  • Ethical issues in the publication of health sciences research funded by FIHMR Flinders University (Researchers: Rogers W*, Braunack-Mayer A* and Israel M*)

*ECSA members