In episode #251 of The Grant – the EU funding podcast, I’m joined by Andrea Motola from Enspire Science to look at an element of Horizon Europe proposals that is still too often treated as something to deal with shortly before submission: ethics. Andrea’s central argument is that ethics is not simply a compliance box. Ethical considerations can influence the methodology, data management, consortium composition, timelines, resources and even the feasibility of project activities. That means the right moment to start thinking about ethics is when the project itself is being designed.

We discuss how to use the Horizon Europe ethics self-assessment, how to identify ethics issues by looking at the actual activities rather than simply the scientific field, and why the consortium needs to ask practical questions early: Who interacts with participants? Who obtains consent? Who accesses personal data? Who monitors compliance? And does the consortium actually have the expertise and resources required? Andrea also explains why early consideration can reveal hidden needs that otherwise appear after funding: additional expertise, external ethics advisers, person months, budget, permits or changes to project activities.

The message running throughout the episode is simple:

Do not write ethics for the evaluator. Design it for the project you will actually have to implement.

Time codes:

02:19 Guest introduction and fly in

05:20 Why Ethics Must Be Addressed Early

17:48 The Ethics Self-Assessment

27:50 Identifying Ethics Issues

37:49 Ethics by Design

50:56 Reflections and advice

54:02 The toughest challenge