Knowledge needs of research ethics committees for the integration of ethics in research and technology development

One well-established way of integrating ethics into the development of emerging technologies is the ethics review process which originated in biomedical research. This relies on an ex-ante review of research proposals through institutional bodies, usually known as research ethics committees (RECs). RECs are typically highly skilled in biomedical research questions and methodologies but are often less well equipped to deal with other types of research, notably research involving emerging technologies. Considering the dominance of RECs in the landscape of ethics and emerging technologies, it is, therefore, important to understand whether REC members perceive a need for the development of capacity and training regarding novel technologies. This article presents the findings of a large-scale pan-European survey of 261 REC members and ethics experts to explore their perceived training needs. It shows that such training needs are predominantly related to the relatively abstract level of technology families and broad applications.