Ethics Committee

The Ethics Committee at the KU is responsible for ensuring that empirical studies involving humans are carried out in accordance with legal and scientific regulations. It in particular assesses whether

• danger and hazards for study participants are excluded,
• the burden and strains arising for study participants are justified by the benefits of the study,
• study participants are appropriately informed about the aims and implementation procedure of the study,
• study participants have the possibility to declare their informed consent for participation in the study, and
• data protection regulations are adhered to when collecting, storing and processing data.

The Ethics Committee exclusively gets active upon application of the responsible project coordinator. As researchers and scientists are obliged to comply with these rules, it is generally recommended to consult the Ethics Committee in empirical studies involving humans. It is obligatory to consult the Ethics Committee if third party sponsors or publishing companies have requested an assessment of an ethics committee as a prerequisite for granting research funding or for publication in journals. In some fields (e.g. psychology), involving an ethics committee is common practice.

Explanations regarding the evaluation process

A group of experts is formed for each proposal and consists of the chairperson (or a deputy chairperson) and at least to other members of the committee. This group of experts shall decide on the application. This procedure allows to form expert groups according to specific subject areas or, if needed, as an interdisciplinary group. The medical expert will primarily be involved in decisions on studies involving patients. Decisions are taken in a meeting or by way of circulation procedure. Positive votes can be made subject to certain conditions which are reviewed again at a later point in time. The procedure shall be coordinated by the committee’s office at the Research Service Center.

Explanations regarding submissions

Please submit your application for evaluation to the Ethics Committee’s office: ethikkommission(at)ku.de

Application form

1. Please fill out and sign the application form 
2. Please combine all documents in one PDF file and submit it to the Committee’s office.

Members of the Ethics Committe

The Ethics Committee is a group of researchers who carry out empirical work. All subject areas of the KU that carry out empirical work are represented in the committee:

• Faculty of History and Social Sciences (GGF)
  Prof. Dr. Robert Schmidt
   
• Faculty of Mathematics and Geography (MGF)
  Prof. Dr. Bernd Cyffka
   
• Faculty of Philosophy and Education (PPF)
  Dr. Valérie-D. Berner

  Dr. Martin E. Maier
  Jun.-Prof. Dr. Christina Pfeuffer
  Prof. Dr. Marco Steinhauser (Chairmann of Ethikkommission)
  Prof. Dr. Michael Zehetleitner
   

• School of Transformation and Sustainability (STS)
  Prof. Dr. Martin Schneider
   
• Faculty of Languages and Literatures (SLF)
• Prof. Dr. Heiner Böttger (Deputy Chairman of the Committee)
  Prof. Dr. Thomas Hoffmann
  Prof. Dr. Tanja Rinker
   
• Faculty of Social Work(SW)
  Prof. Dr. Christian Beck
   
• Faculty of Theology (THF)
  Prof. Dr. Alexis Fritz
   
• Ingolstadt School of Management (WFI)
  Prof. Dr. Joachim Büschken
  Prof. Dr. Alexander Danzer
  Prof. Dr. Max Göttsche
  Prof. Dr. Shashi Matta
   
• Legal expert
  Gabriele Kronschnabl

  Nicole Mehlig
  Jana Fischer
   

• Medical expert
  Prof. Dr. Andreas Schuld (Klinikum Ingolstadt)