Research Ethics Governance for an Engaged University: A Call for Institutional Experimentation at Erasmus University Rotterdam

This policy brief examines how research ethics governance at Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) can better support the university’s ambition to become an engaged university.

Drawing on an action learning study conducted between 2023 and 2025, including policy review, interviews, and cross-faculty workshops with Research Ethics Review Committee members and related actors, the brief identifies key tensions in current ethics governance, including the limits of one-off procedural review, the need for ongoing ethical judgement, and the challenge of cultivating shared responsibility across researchers, institutions, and societal partners.

It calls for a focused portfolio of institutional experiments, including proportionate and staged review, community and data ethics protocols, cross-faculty learning, and ethics coaching or embedded facilitation. The brief contributes to wider discussions on research integrity, engaged research, open science, and the governance of ethical responsibility in participatory and transformation-oriented research.