The 3rd Australasian Ethics Network Conference will be held at the Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, from Thursday 16 - Friday 17 February, 2012. The conference's theme for 2012 is Exploring ethics matters in human research.

'Informed consent" has been an important feature of clinical trials and other research where people are asked to share confidential data about themselves. While informed consent is important to ensure participants understand what they are agreeing to, too narrow a framing of informed consent can be a serious brake on scientific progress.

Most consent defines what can be done with data, and which researchers are allowed to do it. Unfortunately, this generally precludes any re-use of the data in ways not foreseen by the original researchers.

Dr Suzanne Morris is presenting a session on Responsible Conduct of Research at UQ Gatton Campus during Research Week. Dr Morris is the University of Queensland's Research Integrity Officer.