Ethics and Bioethics fundamentals

Curso de Formação

Ano Letivo 2024/2025

This training course, promoted by the Ethics Committee of the University of Évora in collaboration with its counterparts at the Polytechnic Institute of Portalegre, the Polytechnic Institute of Beja, and the Polytechnic Institute of Setúbal, aims to contribute to the development of the skills required for serving on Ethics Committees.

Portuguese society today is undergoing significant change?more informed and increasingly demanding. The rapid pace of biotechnological development, demographic challenges and resulting healthcare demands, the rise in migratory movements, growing multiculturalism, and the expanding role of artificial intelligence have given rise to new problems, ethical issues, and dilemmas that may conflict with individual and collective human rights, as well as with human dignity. In this context, it is essential that Higher Education and Healthcare Institutions are adequately prepared to address these emerging ethical challenges.

Ethics Committees, as integral parts of these institutions, must possess cross-cutting competencies that enable them to critically analyze and reflect on matters related to ethics and bioethics, thereby contributing to the upholding of these principles within the institution's activities.

Within this framework, focusing on the challenges faced by Ethics Committees and on the development of competencies that support the application of ethical and bioethical principles in institutional contexts, this initiative constitutes a complementary training opportunity. It is aimed at the general public and, in particular, at members of Ethics Committees from various organizations.

This is the first of five training modules that will form part of the forthcoming Postgraduate Program in Ethics and Citizenship in Higher Education and Healthcare, for which accreditation may be considered.