DEPARTMENT
CENTER OF BIOETHICS
DEPARTMENT
CENTER OF
BIOETHICS
Historic
The Center for Bioethics and Social Studies within the Western University “Vasile Goldiș” from Arad was founded by Mrs. Rector, prof.univ.dr. Coralia Cotoraci, in 2013, being one of the first centers with this specific in Romania.
The establishment of the Center was carried out in partnership with the University of Padua – Italy. The Center for Bioethics and Social Studies is a self-financed research, education and training unit, on the non-profit principle, in accordance with the legal provisions in force, the Charter of the Western University “Vasile Goldiș” and the Regulation of organization and operation.
Coordination
Chairman of the Scientific Council:
Prof. PhD.
Coralia COTORACI
Director:
Prof.Assoc. prof.
Maria SINACI
Mission
The mission of the Center for Bioethics and Social Studies is to provide a framework for strengthening and facilitating interdisciplinary collaboration in the field of Bioethics by designing and implementing research and intervention based on ethical issues arising from modern aspects of science and social issues that capitalize on paradigms ( post) modern in the social and human sciences.
The results of these researches are capitalized through studies, articles and communications presented in scientific events in the country and abroad.
Purpose
Our goal is to act as a contact center for bioethics and also to provide an optimal framework for researchers, teachers and students who want to collaborate in the development and implementation of research and educational projects: locally, for the development and use of resources locale; at regional level, within a possible bioethics network, capitalizing on own resources and experience; at national level, within national programs and through partnerships with relevant institutions; at international level, through partnerships with research centers and institutions, to be connected to global priorities and approaches and to contribute to joint efforts in this field.
Description
The research program of the Center has an interdisciplinary and applied character, which involves specialists in fields such as medicine, philosophy, law, psychology, theology, sociology-social work.
The Center for Bioethics and Social Studies (CBSS) aims to research both the ethical and social aspects of the problems resulting from the application of new biotechnologies, especially in the field of biomedicine, and to initiate, facilitate public debates on a wider range of bioethical topics. Specifically, the complex bioethical challenges at the intersection of medicine, human well-being and health, science and technology, public policy and law are addressed by encouraging interdisciplinary and collaborative work. An essential component of the CBSS activity is education in the field of Bioethics, especially among young people.
Directions of activity
Research activities: Fundamental and applied research in the fields: bioethics, sociology-social assistance, philosophy, medicine, law.
Activity of scientific transfer of research results to the responsible institutions in the respective fields
Education and training activities in the field of bioethics for young people and specialists in their own fields of activity in cooperation with units, similar institutions in the country and abroad.
Related activities: Practice of students, master students and ensuring their documentation, Activities of editing and printing of publications: studies, research reports, annals, textbooks.
From our activities
Since its establishment, the Center for Bioethics and Social Studies has been carrying out educational and research projects and organizes scientific events with national and international participation (workshops, symposia, conferences) that provide a framework for capitalizing and promoting research results through studies, articles and communications. .
PROJECTS CARRIED OUT BY
Center for Bioethics and Social Studies
BIOETHIC EDUCATION FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. GENETIC ENGINEERING AND HUMAN LIFE
Development period: September-November 2018
The aim of the project was to provide young people with up-to-date, accurate and balanced information, which they can use in their argumentation when debating or discussing ethical issues in science, as well as promoting bioethical values and human rights.
The beneficiaries of the project were 12th grade students from high schools in Arad. In the implementation of the project were involved students from the Western University “Vasile Goldiș” – Faculty of Medicine: Laura Bondar, Alexandra Morar, David Săcui and Vlad Pogan.
The activities of the project consisted of presentations on the topic of genetic engineering in human life, made by medical students for the target group, and the application of questionnaires. At the same time, the students offered each student a brochure, a product made within the project, which addresses historical aspects and applications of genetic engineering aimed at human life.
Project director: associate professor, PhD Maria Sinaci
This project continues, in fact, the project “Bioethics education of young people”, developed in 2016 by the Center for Bioethics and Social Studies. The success of the project at that time and the interest shown by young people towards the new challenges in the area of bioethics led to the shaping and then implementation in 2018 of the project “Bioethical education for young people. Genetic engineering and human life ”.
https://www.arq.ro/educatie-bioetica-pentru-tinerii-aradeni/25110
BIOETHIC EDUCATION FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
Development period: September-November 2016
The aim of the project was to increase the level of information of young people in the field of Human Bioethics and to stimulate their interest in ethical values, in the new paradigm of the knowledge-based society. The project also aims to increase the involvement of both the university and young people in promoting bioethical concepts and principles at the local community level.
The beneficiaries of the project are especially the young people, students and pupils from the Western University “Vasile Goldiș” and from the partner high schools of Arad: the National College “Elena Ghiba Birta”, the National College “Preparandia – Dimitrie Țichindeal” and the Technological High School, , Francisc Neuman “from Arad”.
The project activities consisted of three conferences on bioethics and a poster contest made by students and pupils entitled “Bioethics-bridge to the future”. The three conferences were held by personalities from the country and abroad recognized in academia for their outstanding work and results in the field of bioethics.
Project director: lecturer univ.dr. Maria Sinaci
CBSS PARTNER IN INTERNATIONAL PROJECTS
BIOETHICS STANDARDS IN TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH: AN INTEGRATED APPROACH OF THE BIOETHICS EDUCATION IN BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES AND ITS ROLE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY IN DANUBE REGION COUNTRIES (BEST-NetWORK)
Development period: 2015-2016
BEST-NetWORK is an international project coordinated by the University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine in Cluj-Napoca, in which the Western University “Vasile Goldiș” in Arad was a partner, along with four other higher education institutions: the Bulgarian Center for Bioethics , Bulgaria; University of Belgrade, Serbia; University of Ljubljana, Slovenia; National Institute of Forensic Medicine, Romania.
Project objectives: development, through specific and appropriate activities, of a competitive network of research institutions and bioethics centers in the region, with a special interest in developing its own qualified framework at the intersection of Bioethics with RT fields; development of an education and research center in bioethics within the Institute of Life Sciences from UASVM Cluj-Napoca. Target groups: scientists and researchers from bioethics centers and biomedical institutions (MD, PhD, DVM), as well as professionals involved in the debates generated by the application of bioethics rules in RT.
UVVG researchers coordinator: Prof.univ.dr. CORALIA COTORACI.
CONFERENCES, SYMPOSIUMS AND WORKSHOPS
Conference series “BIOETHICS, SCIENCE AND SOCIETY”
At the heart of these conferences and debates are current issues related to the ethical challenges and dilemmas facing humanity, resulting from the new discoveries of science, approached in an interdisciplinary manner. The lectures given by the guests will materialize in a volume of studies published by the center of Bioethics and Social Studies.
– Genetic engineering between science, public perception and ethics – conference held by prof.univ.dr. Sorina Popescu and prof.univ.dr. Emilian Madoșă, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine “King Mihai I of Romania” from Timișoara, February 2020.
– Children, Bioethics and Philosophy – conference held by Assoc. Florin Lobonț, West University of Timișoara, January 2020.
The Bioethical Challenges of the Collaborative Reproduction – conference given by prof.habil. Janos Toth, from the University of Szeged, May 2019.
International Conference on “Bioethics in the New Age of Science” (BNAS), May 4-5, 2017.
The Western University “Vasile Goldiș”, through the Center for Bioethics and Social Studies is the initiator of this conference, held for the first time at the Western University “Vasile Goldiș” in Arad, in collaboration with Trivent Conferences, in 2017.
The conference, chaired by the Rector of UVVG, prof.univ.dr. Coralia Cotoraci enjoyed a wide international participation, teachers, researchers and students from Italy, Hungary, Poland, Serbia, Ukraine, Macedonia, but also from Jordan and Hong Kong.
Keynote speakers: Prof. Dr. Corrado Viafora (University of Padua), Prof. Dr. Stefan Lorenz Sorgner (John Cabot University of Rome) and Dr. Gheorghe Borcean, President of the Romanian College of Physicians.
The conference papers were published by Trivent Publishing http://trivent-publishing.eu in the volume Ethics of Emerging Biotechnologies: From Educating the Young to Engineering Posthumans, Applied Ethics: From Bioethics to Environmental Ethics.
Shortcut to morality? The promises and risks of moral bioimprovement – conference held by Assoc. dr. Emanuel Socaciu, from the University of Bucharest, November 2016.
Ethics of organ transplantation – dilemmas and challenges – conference held by Assoc. dr. Mihaela Frunză, from the “Babeș Bolyai” University of Cluj Napoca, November 2016.
Ethical issues of the demographic winter – conference held by prof. Univ. Dr. Janos Toth, from the University of Szeged, October 2016
The role of ethics commissions at institutional level – Workshop, June 2016.
Guest: Prof. Dr. Kay Hoffman of the University of Kentucky, USA,
The workshop aimed to present the way in which ethics commissions work at the institutional level in the USA, to identify common elements, the problems facing Romania, how they could be solved, but also to know how these commissions are organized and until where their duties go.
https://www.uvvg.ro/workshop-pe-teme-de-bioetica-organizarea-uvvg/
International Symposium “Interdisciplinarity in Bioethics”, November 2014
The symposium brought together specialists in medicine, law, philosophy and psychology who addressed the following topics:
Basic principles of the legal responsibility of the doctor, authors: Dr. Harry Grossmann, Av. Lars Kindermann (Germany);
Personality Rights in the New Civil Code. Prohibition of eugenic practice, authors: Coralia Cotoraci, Calemia Stoian, Mircea Onel, Alciona Sasu and Teodor Dascal;
Informed consent in case of use of biological specimens, authors: Antoanela Naaji, Coralia Cotoraci, Alciona Sasu;
Philosophy and bioethics. From ethical theories to the principled approach, author: Maria Sinaci.
https://www.aradon.ro/aradon-stirile-judetului-arad/interdisciplinaritate-in-bioetica-238665/
https://www.uvvg.ro/simpozionul-international-interdisciplinaritate-in-bioetica-in-organizarea-uvvg/
International Conference, Ideals and Science: The Core of Professions, March 2014
Guest: Prof. Dr. Kay Hoffman, University of Kentucky, USA
Workshop on bioethics, February 2014
Guests: Prof. Dr. Corrado Viafora, founder of the Master of Bioethics at the University of Padua and coordinator of the most important European center “Erasmus Mundus Master of Bioethics”; prof. univ. Dr. Mariassunta Piccini, researcher in Law, who deals with the Bioethics Commission at the University of Padua.
Conference series “BIOETHICS, SCIENCE AND SOCIETY”
At the heart of these conferences and debates are current issues related to the ethical challenges and dilemmas facing humanity, resulting from the new discoveries of science, approached in an interdisciplinary manner. The lectures given by the guests will materialize in a volume of studies published by the center of Bioethics and Social Studies.
– Genetic engineering between science, public perception and ethics – conference held by prof.univ.dr. Sorina Popescu and prof.univ.dr. Emilian Madoșă, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine “King Mihai I of Romania” from Timișoara, February 2020.
– Children, Bioethics and Philosophy – conference held by Assoc. Florin Lobonț, West University of Timișoara, January 2020.
The Bioethical Challenges of the Collaborative Reproduction – conference given by prof.habil. Janos Toth, from the University of Szeged, May 2019.
International Conference on “Bioethics in the New Age of Science” (BNAS), May 4-5, 2017.
The Western University “Vasile Goldiș”, through the Center for Bioethics and Social Studies is the initiator of this conference, held for the first time at the Western University “Vasile Goldiș” in Arad, in collaboration with Trivent Conferences, in 2017.
The conference, chaired by the Rector of UVVG, prof.univ.dr. Coralia Cotoraci enjoyed a wide international participation, teachers, researchers and students from Italy, Hungary, Poland, Serbia, Ukraine, Macedonia, but also from Jordan and Hong Kong.
Keynote speakers: Prof. Dr. Corrado Viafora (University of Padua), Prof. Dr. Stefan Lorenz Sorgner (John Cabot University of Rome) and Dr. Gheorghe Borcean, President of the Romanian College of Physicians.
The conference papers were published by Trivent Publishing http://trivent-publishing.eu in the volume Ethics of Emerging Biotechnologies: From Educating the Young to Engineering Posthumans, Applied Ethics: From Bioethics to Environmental Ethics.
Shortcut to morality? The promises and risks of moral bioimprovement – conference held by Assoc. dr. Emanuel Socaciu, from the University of Bucharest, November 2016.
Ethics of organ transplantation – dilemmas and challenges – conference held by Assoc. dr. Mihaela Frunză, from the “Babeș Bolyai” University of Cluj Napoca, November 2016.
Ethical issues of the demographic winter – conference held by prof. Univ. Dr. Janos Toth, from the University of Szeged, October 2016
The role of ethics commissions at institutional level – Workshop, June 2016.
Guest: Prof. Dr. Kay Hoffman of the University of Kentucky, USA,
The workshop aimed to present the way in which ethics commissions work at the institutional level in the USA, to identify common elements, the problems facing Romania, how they could be solved, but also to know how these commissions are organized and until where their duties go.
https://www.uvvg.ro/workshop-pe-teme-de-bioetica-organizarea-uvvg/
International Symposium “Interdisciplinarity in Bioethics”, November 2014
The symposium brought together specialists in medicine, law, philosophy and psychology who addressed the following topics:
Basic principles of the legal responsibility of the doctor, authors: Dr. Harry Grossmann, Av. Lars Kindermann (Germany);
Personality Rights in the New Civil Code. Prohibition of eugenic practice, authors: Coralia Cotoraci, Calemia Stoian, Mircea Onel, Alciona Sasu and Teodor Dascal;
Informed consent in case of use of biological specimens, authors: Antoanela Naaji, Coralia Cotoraci, Alciona Sasu;
Philosophy and bioethics. From ethical theories to the principled approach, author: Maria Sinaci.
https://www.aradon.ro/aradon-stirile-judetului-arad/interdisciplinaritate-in-bioetica-238665/
https://www.uvvg.ro/simpozionul-international-interdisciplinaritate-in-bioetica-in-organizarea-uvvg/
International Conference, Ideals and Science: The Core of Professions, March 2014
Guest: Prof. Dr. Kay Hoffman, University of Kentucky, USA
Workshop on bioethics, February 2014
Guests: Prof. Dr. Corrado Viafora, founder of the Master of Bioethics at the University of Padua and coordinator of the most important European center “Erasmus Mundus Master of Bioethics”; prof. univ. Dr. Mariassunta Piccini, researcher in Law, who deals with the Bioethics Commission at the University of Padua.