Bioethics to Biological Sciences: investigations about the principles that constitute or will should constitute the area.

• Grant number: 11/22856-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: July 01, 2012
• End date: April 30, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Education - Specific topics in Education
• Principal Investigator: Ana Maria de Andrade Caldeira
• Grantee: Paloma Rodrigues da Silva
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências (FC). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Bauru. Bauru , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Despite bioethics being a frequent curricular component in undergraduate courses related to health, the recognition of bioethics' importance in the formation of biologists and future biology teachers is recent. The considerable increase of information related to biology, as well as the biotechnological applications of these knowledges increase the need of bioethics being understood as an essential component in graduate programs in biology. This demand has already been complied in some curricular reforms for Biological Sciences courses, as in the discussions that have been occurring in the Universidade Estadual Paulista "Júlio de Mesquita Filho" (UNESP), for example. These initiatives, although of great importance, do not solve by themselves the training of professionals in Biological Sciences when regarding to the formation of ethics. The next step is considering how this training should be done. Thus, we ask: I) What formative principles should be taken into account for the organization of disciplines or lines dedicated to the teaching of bioethics? II) Can the mobilization of national and international authors for them to reply to interviews about the fundaments of bioethics assist in developing these principles? Seeking to answer these questions, we aim to: a) Investigate the fundaments which can compose the bioethics area focused for the needs of undergraduates in the Biological Sciences; b) Investigate the researchers in the bioethics area through interviews; c) List the global ethical values; d) Investigate if the global values meet or not the national issues; e) Develop principles to be discussed with the Bioethics Teaching professionals. To develop this work we shall adopt the Applied Qualitative Research as a methodological foundation. The data will be obtained through the development of an open questionnaire that will be sent by email to prestigious national and international researchers in the area of bioethics and also teachers of Biological Sciences courses. After we receive the responses, we will organize the data into categories of analysis. The results will be used, together with the relevant literature, to develop lines of discussions on bioethics that can compose a discipline focused on the needs of graduates and undergraduates in Biological Sciences.