Outputs - Ethics and Expertise in times of crisis
Research data
We have conducted over 60 qualitative interviews in the UK, Germany and Australia with ethics advisors and policy makers who have received ethics advice.
We have also held 5 witness seminars (focus group discussions with key experts and organisations) on the case studies of AI ethics in healthcare (Australia, UK, Germany), and the One Health Agenda (UK, Germany).
We conducted initial content analysis and keyword searches of our original case study on government responses to Covid, using sources such as the submissions to the Parliament of Australia Senate Select Committee on COVID-19 2020-22 (557 submissions) and the UK Covid Inquiry witness statements, which we will analyse further.
We’ve held a 3 day Data Sprint led by Warren Pearce, which generated a large amount of data and analysis on representations of public cultures of expertise on Wikipedia for our case study on AI ethics in healthcare
We have carried out institutional mapping of ethics advisory bodies and committees in the three national cases. View these draft institutional maps:
Anonymised research data will be deposited with permission at the Uk DataService on project completion.
Policy Tool
During the secondment of Dr Marija Antanavičiūtė to the Nuffield Council on Bioethics as Policy and Foresight Researcher during 2024, she co-developed a Rapid Ethics Assessment tool with partners, as part of NCOB’s Ethical Lens work progamme.
She has engaged widely with policy makers in the UK and internationally on the need for this took, its most suitable form and how it could be used and applied in current working practice, in the context of existing toolkits, guidelines, protocols and aligning with civil service training offers.
Join our network to find out more about this tool, materials, training and workshops we currently provide.
Open Access publications, writing and reports
Pykett, J., Ball, S., Dingwall, R., Lepenies, R., Sommer, T., Straßheim, H., & Wenzel, L. (2023). Ethical moments and institutional expertise in UK Government COVID-19 pandemic policy responses: where, when and how is ethical advice sought?. Evidence & Policy, 19(2), 236-255. https://doi.org/10.1332/174426421X16596928051179
Sommer, T., Straßheim, H., Wenzel, L. (2023) Crisis management and ethical expertise: The role of ethics advice during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany, Risk, Hazards, & Crisis in Public Policy 15, 6–24, https://doi.org/10.1002/rhc3.12276
Blog essays reporting interim project findings
Article for Apolitical: Professional development for civil servants: the ethics gap
Conferences and Presentations
The Politics of Ethical Advice: Ethics and Expertise in Public Policy, Panel at the World Congress of the International Political Science Association World, Seoul, July 2025
'Ethics at the Climate-Health nexus: Comparative insights from Germany and the UK', Paper, International Political Science Association World Congress, Seoul, July 2025
'Worlds of Valuation: Comparing Cultures of Ethics Expertise', Paper, International Political Science Association World Congress, Seoul, July 2025
'Resilience and ethics in times of polycrisis: comparing ethics advice at the policy nexus between public health, climate, and AI', Paper at the Conference of the European Group on Public Administration, PSG XX. Welfare State Governance and Professionalism, 26-29 August 2025, Glasgow, Scotland
'Expertise and Ethics in Times of Crisis: the Role of Polycentric Knowledge', Paper proposal to be submitted to the symposium on communication for evidence-informed policy-making in crisis management 'Getting ready for trouble', Belgian Pandemic Intelligence Network, 27-28 November 2025, Brussels, Belgium
Presentation at invite-only UNESCO symposium: Promoting equitable science during crisis UNESCO, Paris (2-4 June 2025)
'Examining the mobilisation of ethical advice in policy making' International Public Policy Association, Chiang Mai, July 2025
'AI solutionism: opportunities and pitfalls for health policy', Political Studies Association PSA 75th Annual International Conference, Birmingham, April 2025
'Institutionalisation and global governance of ethics advice in the times of crisis: learnings from a comparative study of One Health policy advisory system' International Studies Association Annual Conference, Chicago, March 2025
'Ethik und Expertise in der Polykrise: Konflikte, Konstellationen, Konzepte', Panel at the 29. Wissenschaftlicher Kongress der Deutschen Vereinigung für Politikwissenschaft (DVPW), Göttingen, September 2024.
'Ethics of Overpromising: the Case of AI Deployment in Health Policy', Second UK AI conference, Birmingham, October 2024
'Contested meanings and multiple roles of ethical expertise in policy making in times of polycrisis' UKAPA, UK Association for Public Administration, Birmingham, September 2024
'The role and nature of ethical expertise in policy making in times of polycrisis', ECPR, European Consortium for Political Research, Dublin, August 2024
'Ecologies of ethical expertise: polycentrism, pluralism and advisory bodies in the context of policy uncertainty', European Association for the Study of Science and Technology conference, Amsterdam, July 2024
'Governing ethical advice as a form of expert knowledge and public reasoning in times of crisis', Science in Public, Birmingham, July 2024
'Contested Meanings of Ethical Expertise in Politics and Policy Making' Political Studies Association, Glasgow, March 2024
'Ethical Values and Pandemic Policy' Australian Political Science Association Conference - Roundtable on responses to COVID-19, Melbourne, November 2023