Research does not only entail professional hurdles. Basic principles of scientific work must also be learned. Scientific misconduct in the natural sciences can have particularly serious consequences, especially in experiments on animals or in drug research. But deliberate calculation errors also have major consequences.

In times of increasing competitive pressure in science and unequally distributed resources, the danger of scientific misconduct increases. This is countered by the professional ethos of scientists, who are committed to adhering to "Good Research Practice." Many institutions now have guidelines on Good Research Practice (Research Integrity). Increasingly, attendance at a Good Research Practice seminar is a requirement for admission to doctoral studies.

But what are my rights and obligations as a early career researcher? Which rules do I have to follow? How do I deal with conflicts? Where does misconduct start and what happens afterwards?

This course teaches codices of Good Research Practice and supports a culture of scientific integrity at research institutions.

Topics/ Contents

This seminar offers a basic introduction to the standards of good research practice as required by the German Research Foundation (DFG). It focuses on the perspective of doctoral candidates in the natural sciences and covers the following topics:

• Introduction and definitions
• Principles of good research practice
• Potential problem and conflict areas in the research process
• Misconduct in the natural sciences
• Scientific data collection and documentation
• Research data management
• Rights of use
• Publications, collaborations and authorship
• Plagiarism
• AI in scientific publications
• Supervision and organisational culture
• the German ombudsman system
• if required: animal experiments, experiments on humans, data protection, whistleblowing