Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences Ethics Committee

Central principles of responsibility and accountability of academic research in modern societies are

• the right of self-determination of individuals,
• das the principle of damage avoidance,
• the principle of usefulness and
• a fair distribution of the advantages and disadvantages of research.

In concrete terms, this means that research projects should take place with the informed and voluntary consent of the persons involved and that the latter are not exposed to any particular disadvantages or risks.

Where informed and voluntary consent is not obtained in advance of the research (e.g. in the case of some experiments) or where particular disadvantages or risks cannot be ruled out, researchers must explain in a comprehensible and convincing manner why the planned project is nevertheless justifiable from the point of view of research ethics.

In addition, the justification, design, implementation, data security and utilization of the research findings should comply with the rules of good academic practice, as set out for example in the relevant codes of ethics of the professional associations. These include, above all, transparency and traceability of knowledge acquisition, data protection and the publication of research results.

Voluntary recourse to the committee in no way releases applicants from compliance with the legal provisions and regulations of the University of Tübingen and other institutions. It is not the task of the committee to monitor compliance with existing legal provisions and regulations of the University of Tübingen.

Students writing Bachelor’s and Master’s theses are guided in research ethics questions by their supervisors. For capacity reasons, the evaluation of such research projects does not fall within the remit of this committee.

The Faculty Board has established an Ethics Committee headed by the Vice Dean for Research and which includes at least 6 additional professors and 4 further senior members academic staff. The term of office is four years.

The committee focuses on two areas:

• Education Sciences (each represented by a professor from HIB, IfE and TüSe/ subject didactics of all faculties)
• Social Sciences (one professor) and Economics (one professor).

A member with expertise in ethical questions (from the IZEW or the Global Ethic Institute) may be consulted on relevant issues.

Committee members

Head of the committee:

• Professor Dr. Tim Pawlowski, Vice-Dean for Research

Deputy Head:

• Professor Dr. Benjamin Nagengast, deputy head of the committee

Further committee members:

• Prof. Dr. Gabriele Abels
• Dr. Lisa Bäulke
• Dr. Aenne Brielmann
• Dr. Janina Eberhart
• Dr. Rolf Frankenberger
• AOR Dr. Helga Gese
• Prof. Dr. Annika Goeze
• Prof. Dr. Joachim Grammig
• Dr. Jasmin Joecks
• Prof. Dr. Christoph Randler
• Dr. Malte Ring
• Prof. Dr. Stefan Schwarzer
• Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Wulf

Upon request, the Ethics Committee will give its opinion on the ethical justifiability of the objectives and procedures of a research project.

a.) Who may apply?
All professors and staff members with a doctorate at the Faculty of Social Sciences are eligible to apply. In the LEAD research network, all professors and researchers with a doctorate are also eligible to apply as are the representatives of subject didactics in all faculties whose research relates to empirical social science in areas relevant to education. Doctoral candidates may apply via their supervisors, if applicable.

b.) What forms can the review process take?

Normally, the review is carried out by circular with at least one rapporteur. In the case of simple applications and precedents, the chairman may also make an urgent decision. In the case of ethically complex issues or at the request of a member of the committee, a decision is made in an oral hearing.

c.) How does it work?
Please address questions about procedure and applications to the ethics committee, including the relevant documents (see "Documents to be submitted") by e-mail: ethikkommissionspam prevention@wiso.uni-tuebingen.de.

The ethics committee usually decides on applications within six weeks. Please take this into account when starting your data collection and, if necessary, allow for some lead time. Thank you for your understanding! The statutes on the establishment of ethics committees at the University of Tübingen apply.  Conflicts of interest must be reported in good time. All procedures are confidential.

d.) Documents to be submitted
For review of a planned research project by the Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, the following documents must be submitted via email:

The form is available via the link in the right-hand column of this page.

e.) Further information:
Helpful information on the preparation of information sheets and declarations of consent can also be found on the websites of the Rat für Sozial-und WirtschaftsDaten and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Psychologie. Here are further templates.
Data privacy notice: here.

Please get information before applying or planning a research project!

There is usually one info event per year.

Here you can find the documents for the information event of 18.07.2023

Here you can find the documents for the information event of 20.07.2022

Here you can find the documents for the information event of 21.07.2021

Here you can find the documents for the information event of 23.07.2020

The statutes on the establishment of ethics committees at the University of Tübingen of 18.06.2015, updated 09.02.2017, apply.

(The statutes only exist in the German language)