Code of conduct

FARI’s Code of Conduct promotes a standard of behavior that supports and enables FARI’s commitment to be a safe, inclusive, equitable, trustworthy, and respectful community to create an optimal research climate by those acting on behalf of FARI including employees, students, postdoctoral scholars, consultants, contractors, and volunteers. 

This Code of Conduct establishes guidelines for constructive and positive working relationships. The Institute values integrity, diversity, respect, freedom of inquiry and expression, trust, honesty, and fairness and strives to integrate these values into its research, education, and business practices.

All people involved in FARI’s activities have to respect these values. The onus is on all acting on behalf of FARI to uphold scrupulous academic standards and integrity by maintaining an ongoing dedication to honesty and responsibility. Through its mission to contribute to the fair and sustainable development of society and to the transition of our economy for a common good, FARI sustains high ethical standards during all steps of our research projects with the aim of fostering responsible research and innovation, in an inclusive, societally-oriented way. 

The various stakeholders involved in the FARI’s projects have also to be aligned with:

• the EU’s seven key requirements for responsible AI, both in the context of research and in the context of use, which are: 1. Human agency and oversight, 2. Technical robustness and safety, 3. Privacy and data governance, 4. Transparency, 5. Diversity, non-discrimination, and fairness, 6. Societal and environmental well-being, 7. Accountability
• the legal requirements of The European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity, 
• The code of ethics for scientific research in Belgium, 
• The European Charter for Researchers, 
• and comply with the legal rules, laws, and regulations applicable according to the project. 

The UN Sustainable Development Goals and the OECD’s Call for a New Growth Narrative have also to be considered. FARI implements those guidelines also by cooperating with the politics of the VUB and ULB.

Those acting on behalf of FARI have a general duty to conduct themselves in a manner that will maintain and strengthen the Brussels administrations, the European Commission, and the public’s trust and confidence in the integrity of the institute and take no actions incompatible with their obligations to both universities and the institute.