The journal Science, the official publication of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), has included in its ScienceCareers section an article that focuses on Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI), a concept that refers to the need for R&D to engage more with the values, expectations and needs of society, and to achieve this, it is working on different aspects (anticipation, transparency, diversity, responsiveness) and on different fronts (citizen participation, ethics, open access and gender equality, among others).

Science and technology are an important source of knowledge, well-being and progress, but at the same time they are associated with a great variety of risks and dilemmas. The system of R&D&I should be able to recognize the demands of society and in parallel work responsibly. This scenario gives rise to the concept of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI), which seeks greater engagement by R&D&I with society (where it wants and where does it not want to go, what are the main problems and future expectations on which to work, how we want things to be done throughout the process of R&D&I, what are our shared values).

In 2013, the European Commission (EC) gave a boost to these issues by placing them within a common political framework as part of the Horizon 2020 (H2020) project, the EC’s programme to fund research and innovation. As the EC currently defines it, RRI is mainly an inclusive approach to research and innovation seeking to better align the process and results with the values, needs and expectations of European society.

Among the projects highlighted by ScienceCareers is Higher Education Institutions and Responsible Research and Innovation (HEIRRI), led by the Science, Communication and Society Studies Centre at Pompeu Fabra University (CCS-UPF). The goal of the HEIRRI European project is to promote the integration of the teaching of RRI in the university education of future scientists, engineers and other professionals involved in R&D.

As Gema Revuelta, chief coordinator of HEIRRI and director of the CCS-UPF, states, “the concept of Responsible Research and Innovation, or RRI, is usually well received by researchers. The problem comes when they want to implement it, because sometimes it can seem ambiguous and vague. To help future researchers and innovators to really know how to integrate RRI into their professional practice, HEIRRI is developing subjects and teaching materials for all levels of university education (undergraduate, graduate, doctorate, summer courses and MOOC) . The materials will be disseminated free of charge and in open access. In addition, for the project and its materials to become well known and widely used in Europe and anywhere in the world, a highly intensive joint task is being carried out with leading international networks of universities”.

She adds, “the fact that a journal like Science is covering it means explicit recognition of the importance of RRI and an unbeatable platform to ensure the movement’s visibility and dissemination”.

Four universities from different European countries (Pompeu Fabra University, University of Bergen, Aarhus University and University of Split), a research centre (Institute for Advanced Studies in Vienna), the European network of science centres and museums (ECSITE), Obra Social “la Caixa” (OSLC), the Catalan Association of Public Universities (ACUP), and private company Innovatec  make up the HEIRRI project, launched in September 2015. On behalf of UPF, members of the Group of Educational Research in Health Sciences (GRECS) of the Department of Experimental and Health Sciences, together with researchers of the Department of Information and Communication Technologies are also involved. The HEIRRI project is funded by the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 programme and has a budget of one and a half million euros over three years.