Studying science in the context of ethics

The authors describe their experiences in developing and introducing a course on responsible conduct at the Graduate School of Biological Sciences at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. The paper covers issues involved with course faculty, course content and format, and evaluation. At least half of the course time focused on general or case-study discussions of the students and faculty about ethical problems raised in course readings or the students' research experiences. An important issue for institutions trying to encourage students to recognize, reason about, and understand ethical concerns is how the institution itself becomes aware of the ethical implications of its own unconsciously or explicitly stated policies. Such reflection among institutional leaders is critical to fostering the public trust necessary for a profession to sustain its right to self-regulation and its claim of authenticity.