Ethics charter

The NCCR Bio-Inspired Materials and its individual members are guided by principles that serve as reference for ethical decision making. At the NCCR Bio-Inspired Materials we:

• Defend human rights and treat everyone fairly, with respect and dignity, preventing any kind of discrimination based on gender, nationality, race, sexual orientation, age or other aspects
• Comply with national and international laws, school and institutional rules, both in letter and spirit, and with the principles of social harmony and equality
• Behave with independence, consistency, honesty, and transparency in all of our activities
• Share responsibility with respect to the objects of study, the execution of the research, and the potential use of their findings
• Teach with professionalism and base our relationship with students on mutual trust, respect and personal integrity
• Carry out, document, and communicate research according to the highest international standards of quality and ethics
• Avoid the use of animals in research wherever possible and comply with the Swiss animal testing protection laws
• Do not carry out research that has the goal to produce results that can be harmful for humans, animals, plants or the environment
• Make use of funds ethically and in a fully transparent manner
• Do not accept funds from sources that could lead to situations in which any of the above guiding principles may be compromised