Safe by Design Regulation for Academic Experimentation and Value Conflicts: An Exploration of Solution Directions

Area of Science:

• Research ethics and safety
• Societal impact of scientific research
• Academic research governance

Background:

• Safe by Design (SbD) is an anticipatory safety strategy for academic experimentation.
• It broadens safety to include societal responsibility and future risk identification.
• Current safety regimes in academia face challenges in implementing SbD.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore solution directions for implementing Safe by Design (SbD) in academic experimentation.
• To identify factors enabling and limiting SbD adoption among researchers and support personnel.
• To propose methods for resolving value conflicts inherent in SbD implementation.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative research approach.
• Interviews with academic researchers across disciplines.
• Interviews with university support personnel.

Main Results:

• Identified enabling and limiting factors for SbD implementation.
• Articulated findings in terms of core research values and safety-related value conflicts.
• Highlighted the tension between traditional research values and the broader scope of SbD.

Conclusions:

• Value conflicts between safety and research values hinder SbD adoption.
• Tools from design for values research offer a framework for resolving these conflicts.
• Adoption of SbD can be facilitated by addressing and resolving these value conflicts.