Welcome

Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto

Acronym: CE-FEUP

Chair: Ana Maria Mendonça

Mission:
The Ethics Committee is a collegiate advisory body whose purpose is to ensure compliance with and respect for standards of integrity, honesty and ethical quality in the activities of FEUP and its members.
In the exercise of its functions and responsibilities, the Ethics Committee acts with full independence from the management bodies of FEUP.

Establishment:
The Ethics Committee was established at the beginning of 2023 and carries out its activities in accordance with its Regulations and with the University of Porto Code of Ethics.

Composition:
Ana Maria Mendonça (DEEC), Chair
Carlos Baquero-Moreno (DEI)
João Santos Baptista (DECG)
Maria Gabriela Beirão (DEGI)
Maria Pia Ferraz (DEMec), Vice-Chair
Olga Pastor Nunes (DEQB)

Responsibilities:

1. The responsibilities of the FEUP Ethics Committee include:
   a) Analysing matters that raise ethical issues within the scope of the actions, responsibilities and internal and external relationships of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto, as well as the conduct of its members;
   b) Analysing ethical issues that may arise in academic, research, management and external relations activities involving teaching staff, researchers, technical staff and students affiliated with FEUP;
   c) Producing written opinions and recommendations, or codes of conduct, within the scope of its responsibilities.
2. In the exercise of its responsibilities, the FEUP Ethics Committee promotes respect for human dignity and integrity, paying particular attention to professional codes of ethics, as well as international declarations and guidelines on ethics.
3. The activities of the FEUP Ethics Committee may result from initiatives of the Committee itself or may take place in response to requests from FEUP central management bodies, departmental management bodies, or individuals affiliated with FEUP or involved in activities that include FEUP members.
4. The FEUP Ethics Committee does not issue legal or disciplinary assessments, without prejudice to the possibility of being asked to provide opinions to support legal or disciplinary proceedings.
5. Whenever it deems necessary, the FEUP Ethics Committee may request from third parties all information it considers relevant.

Operation:
The Ethics Committee meets ordinarily once a month, usually in the last week of the month, and extraordinarily whenever convened by its Chair.

Requests for opinions must be submitted to the FEUP Ethics Committee email address (comissao.etica@fe.up.pt) using the University of Porto Ethics Committee submission form, and must be accompanied by the documents required for the proper assessment of the process. The instructions for completion and the documents to be attached are indicated in the submission form itself.

All requests for opinions that are not duly completed will be returned for resubmission. Correct completion of the current form is mandatory, as is the inclusion of all documentation necessary for the full clarification of the project under consideration.

Applications for a given monthly meeting will only be accepted until the end of the day on the 15th of the respective month. Each application will be assigned to one of the members of the Committee for the preparation of a draft opinion, which will be presented and discussed at a subsequent Committee meeting and may result in its approval or non-approval.

Where additional clarification is required, the Committee member responsible for preparing the draft opinion will contact the teaching staff member or researcher responsible for the project directly to request the additional information deemed necessary.

CE-FEUP may decide not to issue an opinion if it concludes that the project under evaluation falls outside the scope of the Committee’s responsibilities. The same may occur if the project team or supervision does not involve any FEUP teaching staff member or researcher.

CE-FEUP may also decide not to prepare an opinion if the project has already been carried out prior to the submission of the request for an opinion to the Committee.

Contact email:
comissao.etica@fe.up.pt