Legal and Ethical Guidelines
Legal Services and Data Protection at UZH
UZH’s Legal Services and Data Protection
The Data Protection Office of the University of Zurich offers a first overview of important topics concerning the handling of personal data (e.g. a glossary of important terms and a template for informed consent).
More about data protection in research projects
Data Protection / Ethics Self-Assessment Tool
With the Self-Assessment Tool of the Data Protection Office at the UZH, you can quickly gain an overview of whether you work with personal data at all in your project, where you need to take a closer look, and whether you need to submit an application to an ethics committee.
Research Involving Human Beings
Research projects involving human beings are governed by ethical principles. In most cases, an ethical review of the research project and its approval are necessary.
If the Swiss Human Research Act (HFG) applies to a research project, it must be approved by the Cantonal Ethics Commission (KEK) before the start of the study.
For all other projects involving human beings, an ethical approval is not legally required but highly recommended. Contact your faculty’s ethics committee for more details.
More about research involving human beings
Ethics committees by faculty (bottom of the page)
Publishing Personal and Sensitive Data
The Open Science Services offers you support in handling and publishing personal and sensitive data.
Research Involving Animals and Animal Welfare
The University of Zurich has clear guidelines for the humane treatment of experimental animals. The Office for Animal Welfare and 3R supports researchers in veterinary medecine in making their data public to “reduce” the number of animals used in animal experiments.
Research Involving Genetic Resources
Research at UZH is subject to regulated access to genetic resources and the balanced sharing of benefits arising from their use. These conditions are defined in the Nagoya Protocol of the Federal Office for the Environment.
Commercialization of Research Results and Data
Unitectra is the technology transfer office for the Universities of Basel, Bern, and Zurich, supporting researchers in commercializing their research results and negotiating research contracts.
Copyright & Licenses
Do you have questions about copyright, author rights and how to share your work with a license (publications or data)?
Get in touch:
Licensing publications: oa@ub.uzh.ch
Licensing data: data@ub.uzh.ch
CARE Principles
The CARE principles advocate for the inclusion of ethical considerations, power dynamics, and historical contexts in the governance of research data, particularly indigenous data. They emphasize the importance of Collective benefit, ensuring that data is used in ways that serve the community as a whole.
These principles aim to complement the FAIR principles by adding a layer that addresses the human and ethical aspects of data management.