Legal Issues

The Friedrich Schiller University Jena offers various support and consulting options for legal aspects. This website provides references to the relevant institutions as well as further information.

Supporting institutions of the university

Legal Office

The Legal Office de offers legal advice to the members of the University, e.g. concerning questions on data protection issues and the development of contracts and consent forms for volunteers.

Ethics committees

The ethics committees with their honorary experts are interprofessionally composed instances of examination and self-regulation in human research. They act in the interest and for the protection of volunteers and patients and should protect them from legally and ethically questionable research projects. As a rule, such scientific work is only financed and published in scientific journals if it is approved by an ethics committee.

The Ethics Committee of the University Hospital JenaExternal link is responsible for the consultation regarding clinical research on humans and epidemiological studies using personal data. In addition to protecting volunteers and patients, it also serves to protect research institutions and researchers from misconduct and recourse claims. The Ethics Committee must be consulted prior to the start of any respective research project.

The Ethics Committee of the Friedrich Schiller UniversityExternal link (formerly Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences) examines research projects by members of the university from all disciplines (except medicine) that deal with human subjects for their ethical harmlessness. On its website, the Ethics Committee provides templates for declarations of consent and subject information forms as well as further information material.

Steering group “Foreign Trade” (export control, dual use)

The export of scientifically used goods to countries outside the European Economic Area is subject to the strict legal requirements of European and German foreign trade law. Countries on which international economic sanctions (embargoes) have been imposed must be given particular consideration. Data, software, knowledge, and technical support are also subject to export control. This must also be taken into account, for example, when employing foreign personnel or and when traveling abroad on business.

On the website of the Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control (BAFA)External link you will find information on, among other things:

• Introduction to export control
• Export control in science and research (Academia)
• Embargoes (countries, measures)
• Lists of goods (as well as BAFA keyword index for easier entry)

For a legally compliant approach to the export of scientifically used goods as well as in case of questions concerning dual use, please contact the steering group “Foreign Trade” of the University early, ideally already when planning and applying for a transnational project.

Consulting in cases of conflict (authorship, data use etc.)

The Friedrich Schiller University of Jena offers counselling in cases of conflict regarding good scientific practice de (website currently only available in German, May 2024). Please contact the university ombudspersons listed on the website. Helpful information on the topic can be found on the website on Research IntegrityExternal link of the German Research Foundation (DFG) and on the website of the German Research OmbudsmanExternal link (German).

Further information

The German platform www.forschungsdaten.infoExternal link provides an introduction to various aspects of research data management (RDM) by providing practical articles on individual aspects of RDM. These cover the steps from planning a research project, proposal submission and project execution to the publication of results and data as well as their subsequent use. The section “Rights and Responsibilities”External link provides information on legal regulations such as German data protection and copyright law, rights concerning with databases and repositories, and information on licensing.

The UK Data ServiceExternal link platform provides an English introduction to the legal aspectsExternal link of RDM  including ethical issues.