Research Integrity

Clinical and biomedical research holds great responsibility for generating scientific findings, which are generally transferred to health care in the medium term.

Academic integrity and compliance with the principles of good research practice are indispensable prerequisites and guarantees for good quality in research.

Since the series “Research: increasing value, reducing waste” was published in The Lancet journal in January 2014, the reliability and the qualitative basis of scientific findings in biomedicine have been intensively discussed.

Lancet Serie „Increasing value, reducing waste“

The following information and events serve to raise awareness of quality issues in scientific research and to share important regulations and initiatives.

Integrity and Good Research Practice

Academic integrity and compliance with the principles of good research practice are indispensable prerequisites for all scientific work and a guarantee for high quality research.

On 15 October 2019, the University of Freiburg established the coordination office for academic integrity, which is responsible for the conceptual planning and operational implementation of all tasks regarding academic integrity. This includes the further development of the regulations for safeguarding academic integrity and supporting the investigative commission.

Academic Integrity – University of Freiburg

Regulations of the University of Freiburg on Safeguarding Academic Integrity

Information Sheet for the Faculties of the University of Freiburg on Academic Misconduct (Internal Access and German Only)

As early as 1998, the Commission on Responsibility in Research of the Faculty of Medicine issued recommendations on responsibility in research.

Recommendations by the Faculty of Medicine on Responsibility in Research (Internal Access Only)

Advisors for conflicts regarding academic misconduct:

Representative for Academic Self-Regulation – University of Freiburg

Ombudsperson for the Medical/Scientific staff – Medical Center – University of Freiburg

The Committee for Research Integrity (formerly German Research Ombudsman) is a central point of contact in Germany when it comes to questions and conflicts related to integrity and good research practice. The Committee receives institutional funding by the German Research Foundation and consists of members of the organizations belonging to the Alliance of Science Organisations.

Ombuds Committee for Research Integrity in Germany

The German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG) published the code of conduct “Guidelines for Safeguarding Good Research Practice” in 2019, which has undergone a revision in Jan 2025. Since the code of conduct came into force, all higher education institutions and non-university research institutions have been legally required to implement the 19 guidelines as a prerequisite for receiving DFG funding.

The University of Freiburg has implemented these guidelines with effect from August 2022.

Guidelines for Safeguarding Good Research Practice

“Research Integrity” Portal

Good Research Practice

Courses for Postdocs

Courses for Doctoral Students

European Science Foundation – The European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity (2023)

Compliance in Research

Science needs freedom and requires responsibility. The following documents serve to inform you of relevant guidelines and regulations:

Conflicting goals may arise in clinical and biomedical research if not only the well-being of the patient is decisive, but research interests are also pursued.

The Ethics Committee of the University of Freiburg advises and assesses ethical and legal aspects in the planning and implementation of medical research on living and deceased people.

Ethics Committee – University of Freiburg

In 1964, the General Assembly of the World Medical Association (WMA) issued a statement on ethical principles for medical research involving human participants, including research using identifiable human material or data, which is still used as a guideline today.

Declaration of Helsinki (as of 2024)

Further recommendations and statements on ethical aspects in research can be found on the website of the German Ethics Council.

German Ethics Council

The University of Freiburg has published the following “Guidelines on the responsible handling of the freedom and risks of research” in the bulletin of 20 December 2021. The Commission on Responsibility in Research assesses and advises on the controllability and prevention of harmful use of research and research consequences (dual-use research).

University of Freiburg – Guidelines on the Responsible Handling of the Freedom and Risks of Research (Internal Access and German Only)

University of Freiburg – Commission on Responsibility in Research

The German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG) has compiled and published information and recommendations on the balance between scientific freedom and scientific responsibility.

DFG – Dealing with Risks in Security-Relevant Research

The DFG has compiled information on the Nagoya Protocol, which internationally regulates access to non-human biological material for research purposes and the sharing of benefits with the country of origin of the biological material.

DFG – Nagoya Explanations for Researchers (German Only)

The German Nagoya Protocol HuB helps to understand the obligations arising from the implementation of the Nagoya Protocol.

German Nagoya Protocol HuB

The Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (Bundesamt für Naturschutz, BfN) is the German authority responsible for the implementation of the Nagoya Protocol.

BfN – Nagoya-Protokoll

When submitting an EU proposal, the EU Regulation No. 511/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council on compliance measures for users from the Nagoya Protocol must be observed.

EU Regulation No. 511/2014

The University of Freiburg has officially adopted the “Guideline for Partnerships under Complex Framework Conditions, Particularly for Collaboration with Partners in the People’s Republic of China” (as of 28 February 2025). This document identifies sources of information, outlines potential courses of action, and provides recommendations, where feasible, for the collaboration with partners from restrictive research systems.

Further information and an accompanying checklist may be found on the official website of the University of Freiburg.

University of Freiburg – International Cooperations (Internal Access Only)

Request for Information by Email

Regulations for working with genetically modified organisms can be found on the website of the department for safety and security.

Department for Safety and Security [de]

You can find information on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in research, on AI tools, and the guidelines for using AI tools at the Medical Center – University of Freiburg on the website “Services for Researchers”.

Topic Artificial Intelligence

An information portal on the topic of animal experimentation has been set up by the University of Freiburg and the Medical Center – University of Freiburg.

Infoportal Tierversuche Freiburg [de]

In 2019, the DFG Senate Commission published the guidelines “Animal Experimentation in Research: The 3Rs Principle and the Validity of Scientific Research”.

DFG – Guidelines “The 3Rs Principle and the Validity of Scientific Research”

The DFG’s Permanent Senate Commission on Animal Research provides further information on animal experiments in research.

DFG – Permanent Senate Commission on Animal Research

The University of Freiburg promotes the transfer of knowledge and technology, i.e., the implementation and use of the research findings and developments in practice [section 2 subsection 5, version of 1 April 2014 of the act on the higher education institutions in the Land of Baden-Württemberg (Landeshochschulgesetz, LHG), see EU recommendation below]. The use of the findings depends on the handling of intellectual property, which is regulated in the guidelines below. The licensing, sale, and support of business start-ups should be actively pursued and thus contribute to the socio-economic development of the city, region, and country.

Transfer – University of Freiburg

The University of Freiburg has published guidelines on the handling of intellectual property in knowledge transfer activities (Intellectual Property Rights Policy).

Guidelines – University of Freiburg (Internal Access Only)

Request Guidelines by Email

The Centre for Technology Transfer (ZFT) of the University of Freiburg supports and advises on the use of research findings.

Centre for Technology Transfer

You can find support regarding intellectual property issues at EU level, e.g., for EU-funded projects, on the website of the European IP Helpdesk.

European IP Helpdesk

Funding acknowledgments must be included in publications in order to transparently disclose the funding used for the scientific work. This reference to significant sources of funding contributes to transparency and provides evidence of which scientific results are directly derived from the funding. Further information can be found on the DFG website.

DFG – Funding Acknowledgements

Information on data protection at the University of Freiburg and Medical Center – University of Freiburg.

Data Protection – University of Freiburg

Data Protection – Medical Center – University of Freiburg [de]

Information of the Central Office for Data Protection at Universities in Baden-Württemberg (Zentrale Datenschutzstelle der baden-württembergischen Universitäten, ZENDAS).

ZENDAS

Information on different compliance topics at the University of Freiburg.

Compliance at the University of Freiburg [de]

Research with genetic resources / Nagoya Protocol [de]

Four Researchers showing different scientific items and standing around a microscope with DNA structure protruding upwards

Quality in Research

The following websites and links contain information, statements, and recommendations from scientific organizations, which serve to ensure quality and replicability of clinical trials and experiments in the research process.

The links below provide information on quality assurance and replicability in research.