Statement on Faculty Professional Conduct*

The members of the Biochemistry Faculty are committed to maintaining and modeling the highest professional and ethical standards in matters relating to our academic and scientific endeavors. In this context, members of the Biochemistry faculty:

 

  • Carry out our research with the highest ethical standards, providing a positive example for our lab members
  • Rise above personal rivalries and disagreements with colleagues to execute with highest proficiency our responsibilities as research advisor, teacher, departmental citizen and colleague
  • Interact with our lab members in a professional, civil, and collegial manner so as to best serve their educational and scientific development, while respecting their needs to allocate time among competing demands
  • Impartially evaluate the performance of our students and lab members regardless of religion, race, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, or other non-germane criteria
  • Maintain the appropriate degree of confidentiality in communication with our students, avoiding discussion of a student’s performance with other students
  • Withdraw from serving in a supervisory role when there is an amorous, familial, or other relationship that could result in a conflict of interest
  • Undergo continuous and open discussion about authorship as each project evolves
  • Acknowledge the contributions of our lab members and colleagues in presenting the results of collaborative research at conferences, in publications, or in applications for copyrights and patents
  • Ensure that a student’s experience as a teaching or research assistant contributes to his/her professional development
  • Refrain from requesting our students to perform tasks that are unrelated to their academic or professional development
  • Encourage interactions between our graduate students and their Supervisory Committees that will:
    • Stimulate and encourage creativity and independence
    • Respect their freedom to express opinions that may differ from our own
    • Allow resolution of any conflicts without threat of retaliation
    • Create a clear understanding of research goals
    • Create time lines that are specific as possible for completion of their research and thesis
*Modeled after UW Graduate School guidelines
Adopted by the faculty January 15, 2013.