ESR Process & Toolkit
The Ethics & Society Review considers the broader societal and ethical consequences of research proposals. Since 2020, we have been working to refine our approach for incorporating ethical reflection into the grantmaking process. Learn more about our current process and access the ESR Toolkit below.
ESR Process & Toolkit
The Ethics & Society Review considers the broader societal and ethical consequences of research proposals. Since 2020, we have been working to refine our approach for incorporating ethical reflection into the grantmaking process. Learn more about our current process and access the ESR Toolkit below.
Our Process
Institutions participating with ESR only release grant funding after researchers complete an iterative review process on their proposed project. Making funding conditional on ethical review ensures that researchers engage with ethical concerns and do so early when their projects can still be changed easily.
Researchers submit a brief ESR statement alongside their grant proposals when applying for funding with participating organizations. The ESR statement describes their project’s most salient risks to society, to subgroups in society, and to other societies around the world. This statement articulates the principles the researchers will use to mitigate those risks, and describes how those principles are used in the research design.
After the funding organization conducts its grant merit review, it sends only the grants recommended for funding to the ESR for ethics review. The ESR convenes an interdisciplinary panel of faculty that considers the studies’ risks and mitigations in the context of possible benefits to society, and determines the adequacy of the ESR statement provided by the investigators. Its goal is not to eradicate all potential or actual negative impacts—which is often impossible—but to work with the researchers to identify negative impacts and to devise reasonable mitigation strategies. Over one to two weeks, the faculty panel engages with the researchers to give iterative feedback, which can include raising new possible risks, helping identify collaborators or stakeholders, and brainstorming additional mitigation strategies. PIs submit written responses to the ESR feedback as addenda to their original statement. These addenda can include replies to the panel’s feedback as well as commitments to specific mitigation strategies.
When the process is complete, the ESR submits its recommendation to the funding program, and funds are released to the researchers. In rare instances, the ESR will recommend not funding a project if the research team fails to come to an agreement with the ESR faculty panel, regarding reasonable mitigation strategies.
Coordinating Panelists
Coordinating panelists (CPs) are staff, graduate students, or postdoctoral fellows who play an important role determine which proposals are high-risk or underdeveloped and thus need additional insights from faculty panelists.
Faculty Panelists
Faculty panelists (FPs) are Stanford faculty with expertise in the ethical and societal issues of their primary field. They provide important guidance, recommendations, and general support to project teams as they complete our process.
Standard Timeline for Grants Using the ESR
Want to include the ESR in your upcoming grant cycle?
If you are interested in working with the ESR on an upcoming grant, please fill out the form below.
ESR Toolkit
The Ethics & Society Review Toolkit is designed to provide funding organizations with the materials needed to implement a version of the ESR’s ethical reflection process into their grantmaking.