The German Reference Centre for Ethics in the Life Sciences (DRZE) is a national documentation and information centre for the entire field of ethics in the biomedical sciences in Germany.
The DRZE is a Central Research Institute of the University of Bonn. Upon the discontinuation of the BMBF’s funding of the project “Ethics in the Life Sciences”, the DRZE applied to be part of the “Akademienprogramm”. The project was admitted into the research programme of the German Scientific Academies on 1 January 2004, as a research project of the Project of the North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences, Humanities and the Arts.
It has the task:
- to scientifically elaborate the normative foundations of qualified judgement formation and to make them available in various formats;
- to prepare and make available information from a wide variety of fields on the current bioethical discussion in science, society and politics;
- to promote scientific networking and thus advance the German, European and international discourse.
The Rediscovery of Bioethics
Die Wiederentdeckung der Bioethik
Symposium to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the DRZE
The founding of the German Reference Centre for Ethics in the Life Sciences (DRZE) in 1999 was a milestone for bioethical research in Germany. To celebrate its 25th anniversary, the DRZE is organizing an international scientific symposium in German and English.
Prinzipien der Bioethik
Tom L. Beauchamp / James F. Childress
Dirk Lanzerath / Aurélie Halsband (eds.)
Julia Pelger (transl.)
First German translation of the “Principles of Biomedical Ethics” into German. It is not only an easily read interdisciplinary textbook of medical ethics for health professions, but it is also a significant contribution to applied philosophical ethics – translated and edited at the DRZE.
In Focus
The short information In Focus enables interested non-specialists in particular to get a quick overview of the debate on a current bioethical topic.
Imaging in Neuroscience
Bioeconomy
Expert Reports
The aim of the series Ethics in the Life Sciences - DRZE Expert Reports is to prepare ethical problem areas from the field of the life sciences in a scientifically sound manner for interdisciplinary and societal discourse by comprehensively presenting the respective state of research and discussion.
Climate Justice
Marius Bartmann / Aurélie Halsband / Andrea Schapper
Die Generierung von künstlichen Keimzellen
(The Generation of Artificial Gametes)
Eva Mall / Stefan Schlatt / Ulrich M. Gassner / Tade Matthias Spranger / Robert Ranisch / Vasilija Rolfes
News
Here you will find news on current topics, projects and events of the DRZE.
EU-funded project RE4GREEN:
1st newsletter
The DRZE coordinates the three-year project RE4GREEN funded by Horizon Europe aiming to develop an encompassing framework supporting the transition to a sustainable economy and society.
DRZE Journal Club: Questions of Autonomy in Medical Ethics
In the seventh issue of the DRZE Journal Club, Dr. Roman Wagner examines contributions to the discourse that aim to shed light on the nature of autonomy and the question of the relative weight of the principle of respect for autonomy vis-à-vis other ethical principles.
PRACC at Dies Academicus and the Bonn Science Night
The BMBF-funded project PRACC took part in the Dies academicus on 15 May 2024 with a lecture and a panel discussion entitled “What kind of diversity should we protect? An interdisciplinary perspective on nature conservation”.
On 16 May 2024, it attended the Bonn Science Night with a booth.
DRZE Journal Club: Social Robots in Medicine and Healthcare
In the sixth issue of the DRZE Journal Club, Dr. Aurélie Halsband examines the extent to which the deduction of ideal characteristics or capabilities that social robots should exhibit can meaningfully guide the ethical evaluation of their use.
Ethik-Forum:
Biodiversity in the Anthropocene
The videos of the Ethik-Forum “Biodiversity in the Anthropocene – Restore or Design?” are now online.
Third-party funded projects
RE4GREEN
The DRZE is coordinating an EU-funded project on climate and environmental ethics in research and innovation.
irecs
The DRZE is coordinating an EU-funded project on research ethics in the context of new and emerging technologies.
STRATEGIC
The DRZE is coordinating an EU-funded project on co-creating digital health technology design in sub-Saharan Africa.
PRACC
The DRZE is coordinating a BMBF-funded project on challenges of climate change in the context of intergenerational justice and freedom.
FRAIM
The DRZE is involved in a BMBF-funded project developing an ethical framework for the use of AI in neuromedicine.