Law and ethics in research: new workshop series and open educational resources

31.08.2026 — How can legal issues in research be communicated in a way that is both understandable and practical? That is precisely the focus of the training series “Survival Guide for Law and Ethics in Research,” developed by Lea Sophie Singson from the Intellectual Property Rights ubit in collaboration with Sophie Boße, training coordinator at FAIRagro.

The series is aimed at agricultural researchers and related communities and focuses on a specific legal or ethical topic from everyday research practice. Following the German-language workshop on data protection, its English counterpart—titled “Data Protection on a Silver Platter”—will be held from October 13 to 15, 2026.

The three online sessions will, among other topics, answer questions such as when the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) applies to research, how to assess data protection risks, and what to consider regarding anonymization, pseudonymization, and consent. The sessions will focus on specific research scenarios, e.g., field samples, drone footage, audio recordings, and interviews with farmers and local residents.

The training sessions will take place online via Zoom from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. each day.

Click here to register and learn more: Legal Workshop Series: Data protection on a silver platter - FAIRagro

Knowledge that remains available beyond the training

The training series does not end with the event. Extensive Open Educational Resources (OER) are created for each session, which can be used for teaching, continuing education, and one’s own research practice even after the training is over.

For the session that has already taken place, “The License to Research: Who Owns Research Data and What Can I Do With It?”, which was also developed and conducted by Lea Sophie Singson and Sophie Boße, the materials are now available online. These include slide decks with presentation notes, exercises with sample solutions, a recording of the training session, and teaching scripts with timestamps.

This not only allows participants to catch up on the training, but also enables them to reuse the content for their own courses and continuing education programs.

Legal Workshop Episode III: The license to research: Who owns research data and what am I allowed to do with it? - FAIRagro