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Running Research Projects
Care Ethics in Engineering Education (2025-present)
The Care Ethics Project had a soft launch in 2025 at the Spring Symposium. The focus of the project is to build a community interested in researching the role and potential of Care Ethics in engineering including pedagogies that promote Care, practices and policies that build Care, and ways of assessing Care in students, with the aim of developing joint studies.
Team: Vladislav Krivoshchekov (EPFL), Mary Nolan (ATU), and Robert Irish (Toronto).
Contact: vladislav.krivoshchekov@epfl.ch, Mary.Nolan@atu.ie, r.irish@utoronto.ca
Truth in Engineering and AI (2025-present)
When it comes not only to philosophy, but also to science, politics, and day-to-day life, truth represents a core concept that is considered a value. However, nowadays, more and more people are questioning the relevance of truth and suggesting its replacement with a post-truth perspective. This project aims to provide multidisciplinary arguments to support the idea that truth remains essential, with a specific focus on engineering, particularly AI and related fields.
As a society aiming toward knowledge and progress, truth is a necessary concept that helps us differentiate between relevant information and fake news, conspiracy theories, misinformation, and lies. In the case of AI, we expect systems to provide relevant, reliable, and useful output. For this to happen, an AI must be able to operate with distinctions between true and false statements.
However, this does not imply that there is a single criterion or a universal definition of truth; instead, we advocate for a pluralistic approach.
Objectives:
- Conceptual framework: To present arguments supporting the continued value and necessity of truth in engineering, by proposing a pluralistic philosophical framework that can be adopted and extended by engineers and AI developers.
- Semantic Analysis: To analyse natural language-oriented semantics in the context of different notions of truth and meaning, assessing their compatibility and informativeness. Special emphasis will be placed on the epistemological underpinnings of various semantic frameworks and conceptions of meaning and truth. This proposed framework can also offer new insights into the value of knowledge problem within the engineering domain.
- Counterfactuals: To examine counterfactuals and possible world semantics to explore how AI systems can evaluate hypothetical scenarios and determine the truth value of counterfactual statements.
- Ethical Implications: To address questions such as: Should engineers be epistemically neutral? What are the moral implications of a machine capable of distinguishing between truth and falsehood?
Key Deliverables & Timeline:
- Publications: To publish at least three articles on the topic (first one scheduled for late 2026/early 2027)
- Academic Presentations: To present our results at a minimum of two academic events (already exceeded & ongoing)
Already presented at:
- Do we need Truth when it comes to AI? – AI at War, Medical Technologies: Curing and Caring, Budapest (November 27-28, 2025).
- Do we need a theory of truth? – Truth and AI – National Conference: AI: Philosophical Perspectives, Bucharest (April 18).
- LLMs and truth pluralism – DFT-CELFIS Research Seminar, Bucharest (June 9).
Events organisation:
- To organise two international/national conferences dedicated to the philosophical dimensions of AI (already achieved & ongoing)
Events already organised:
- Special Panel (Truth and AI) at the Perspectives about Truth 4 (International Conference) (November 14-15, 2025) https://philevents.org/event/fileDownload/141681?fileId=19134
- AI: Philosophical Perspectives (National Conference), Bucharest (April 18, 2026) https://philevents.org/event/show/147729
- To organise a dedicated workshop to present project results and engage in critical discussion with the wider scientific community (scheduled for Spring/ Early Summer of 2027)
- To host regular working meetings open to both project members and interested external researchers (Starting with October 2026, monthly or bi-monthly)
Team: Paula Tomi (Lead, National University of Science and Technology POLITEHNICA Bucharest), Mircea Toboșaru (National University of Science and Technology POLITEHNICA Bucharest), Mihály Héder (Budapest University of Technology and Economics), Adrian Ludușan (Babeș-Bolyai University)
Contact: paula_pompilia.tomi@upb.ro
An Ethical and Qualitative Approach to User-Centered Design in Engineering Ethics Education (2025-present)
The project aims to propose a new way of teaching design inclusivity within engineering ethics education by integrating insights from contemporary theories of emotions.
Objectives: Submit a preliminary paper (April 2027)
Team: To be formed based on people’s interests and availability. Samia Mahe (Lead)
Contact: samia.enora.mahe@gmail.com (if a team is formed)
Capacity development in Eastern Europe (2022–present)
The group was initiated in the autumn of 2022 by Diana Bairaktarova (Lead, Virginia Tech, USA), after the SEFI Annual Conference, to respond to the need for a higher representation of engineering education researchers based in or from Eastern Europe in SEFI. After the group presented a cross-country autoethnographic research publication under the coordination of Diana Bairaktarova for the 2023 SEFI Annual Conference, in 2024 the group expands the focus to capacity development in Romania via the co-leadership of Mircea Toboşaru (University Politehnica of Bucharest, Romania).
Objectives: The groups aims to consolidate the status of engineering ethics education research in Eastern Europe, encourage the participation of researchers from Eastern Europe in SEFI activities (the annual conference, the SIG spring school) and the development of joint studies and publications.
- Bairaktarova, D., Lhotska, L., Moktefi, A., Pevkur, A., & Vică, C. (2023). Making Meaning Together: An Autoethnography Study On Our Role In Ethics Education. Paper presented at European Society for Engineering Education (SEFI) Annual Conference. https://doi.org/10.21427/azgt-gb18
Team: Diana Bairaktarova (Lead, Virginia Tech, USA), Mircea Toboşaru (Politehnica Bucharest, Romania).
Contact: dibairak@vt.edu
Routledge Handbook of Engineering Ethics Education (2021–present)
This comprehensive guide, edited by Shannon Chance, Tom Børsen, Diana Adela Martin, Roland Tormey, Thomas Taro Lennerfors, and Gunter Bombaerts, features contributions from 105 authors worldwide and offers valuable research on teaching ethics to engineering students. The Handbook of Engineering Ethics Education is now available and in digital format for free. More details:
https://www.sefi.be/2024/12/04/the-routledge-international-handbook-of-engineering-ethics-education/
Objectives: The SIG plans to disseminate the Handbook and extend the themes of The Routledge International Handbook of Engineering Ethics Education.
Team: Shannon Chance, Tom Børsen, Diana Adela Martin, Roland Tormey, Thomas Taro Lennerfors, and Gunter Bombaerts.
Contact: diana.martin@ucl.ac.uk
Policy & Accreditation (2021–present)
At this stage, the work of the Policy group is focused on accreditation and informs a dedicated section of the SEFI Ethics Handbook. The group is coordinated by Sarah Junaid (Aston University, the UK). The group has presented two papers analysing the discourse of accreditation requirements purporting to ethics at SEFI 2021 and 2022
- Junaid, S., Gwynne-Evans, A., Kovacs, H., Lönngren, J., Mejia, J. F. J., Natsume, K., Polmear, M., Serreau, Y., Shaw, C., Toboșaru, M., & Martin, D. A. (2022). What is the role of ethics in accreditation documentation from a global view? In H.-M. Jarvinen, S. Silvestre, A. Llorens, & B. V. Nagy (editors), SEFI 2022 – 50th Annual Conference of the European Society for Engineering Education, Proceedings, 369-378. European Society for Engineering Education (SEFI). https://doi.org/10.5821/conference-9788412322262.1336
- Junaid, S., Kovacs, H., Martin, D. A., & Serreau, Y. (2021). What is the role of ethics in accreditation guidelines for engineering programmes in Europe? In H.-U. Heiß, H.-M. Järvinen, A. Mayer, & A. Schulz (editors), Proceedings SEFI 49th Annual Conference: Blended Learning in Engineering Education: challenging, enlightening – and lasting? (blz. 274-282). European Society for Engineering Education (SEFI). https://www.sefi.be/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/SEFI49th-Proceedings-final.pdf
Team: Sara Junaid
Contact: s.junaid@aston.ac.uk
Past Research Projects
Emotions in ethics (2020–2024)
The group aimed to explore potential tools for researching emotions in engineering ethics education, with the aim of developing joint studies. The group was led by Johanna Lönngren (University of Umea, Sweden).
Team: Johanna Lönngren, Helena Kovacs, Roland Tormey, Nihat Kotluk, Vivek Ramachandran, Elizabeth Rees Chin, Yann Sereau.
Other Projects
Online seminar series (2021–present)
The online seminar series is a project initiated by Diana Martin (UCL, The UK) in 2021. Between 2021–2023, the online seminar series hosted teachers and researchers across the globe on a diverse range of topics. Some of the events in the series are available on the SEFI youtube channel and comprises the following sessions:
- Engineering Education Leaders’ Vision on the Role and Prospects of Ethics, with speakers Donna Riley (Purdue University, USA) Making Meaning: Engineering Ethics and the Aspirational Good; John E. Mitchell (University College London, UK) How an integrated curriculum can support the teaching of ethics in engineering programmes; Isabelle Reymen (TU Eindhoven, The Netherlands) Challenge-Based Learning: Developing responsible engineers of the future LINK
- Responsible Research and Innovation in Engineering Education, with Speakers:Tom Børsen (Aalborg University, Denmark)Kate Roach (University College London, UK): LINK
- Engineers for social change, with speakers Susan Lord (University of San Diego, USA) Examples of Creative Sociotechnical Curricula for Change-making Engineers; Johanna Höffken (TU Eindhoven, The Netherlands) Educating for Impact: Responsible Innovation for the World; Darshan Karwat (Arizona State University, USA) Building a new field of engineering for environmental protection, justice, peace, and human rights : LINK
- Teaching societal responsibility through real life projects and challenge-based learning, with speakers Christian Herzog (University of Luebeck, Germany) Teaching a Constructive Approach to the Ethics of Technology by Partnering with Start-ups as Real Case Studies; Kyriaki Papageorgiou (ESADE, Spain) Challenge-Based Innovation for Climate Change: Reflections from teaching action and responsibility through real-life projects; Emanuela Tilley (University College London, UK) Exploring social responsibility through context rich, interdisciplinary projects in the first and second years of engineering programmes; Jorge Membrillo-Hernández (Monterey Tec, Mexico) Challenge-based learning as a tool for acquiring skills on the path to transforming society LINK
- Empowering and engaging engineering students, with speakers Homero Murzi (Virginia Tech, USA) Culturally Relevant Pedagogy – Amplifying Students’ Voices in the Classroom; Siara Isaac (EPFL, Switzerland) Practical strategies for increasing equity in project teams: skills for students; Nathan Amanquah (Asheshi University, Ghana); Karolina Doulougeri (TU Eindhoven, Netherlands) Empowering engineering students to become self-regulated learners LINK
- Engineering education for sustainability, with speakers Aida Guerra (Aalborg University) What do students have to say about UN’s Sustainable Development Goals? – Perspectives and engagement; André Baier (TU Berlin) Student-driven social and ecological responsibility engineering education; Jonathan Truslove (Engineers Without Borders UK) How do you create passion and potential to contribute to a safe and just world?; Jordi Segalas (UniversitatPolitècnica de Catalunya) Sustainability Competencies and Learning Outcomes in Engineering Education. Spanish framework LINK
- Global perspectives for engineering ethics education, with speakers Glen Miller (Texas A&M University, USA), Alexandra Kazakova (Gubkin Russian State University, Russia), Satya Sundar Sethy (Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India) Qin Zhu, (Colorado School of Mines, USA) LINK
- STS Postures: Changing How Undergraduate STEM Students Move Through the World, with speakers Nicole Mogul and David Tomblin (Science, Technology and Society: University of Maryland College Park, The US) LINK
- Water ethics and responsible engineering, with speakers Yanna Lambrinidou (Virginia Tech, USA) On Helping Engineers to Help Communities: Water Insecurity, Research Justice, and Social Change; Rafael Ziegler (HEC Montréal, Canada) Utopia dynamises action – action dynamisesutopia. A back-casting approach for group-based learning for water innovation and sustainability; Neelke Dorn (TU Delft, The Netherlands) Water Ethics and Responsible Engineering: Against naïve optimization; Edmond Byrne (University College Cork, Ireland) Urban water provision; engineering considerations and ethical framings LINK
- Justice and community engagement in engineering education, with speakers Khalid Kadir (UC Berkeley, the US) Ethics Is Not Enough: Justice as the Ends and Means of Engineering Education; Patricia Xavier, Gabrielle Orbaek White, Nathalie Al-Kakoun (Swansea University, the UK) Finding spaces for humility and different perspectives in engineering community engagement; Jason Borenstein (Georgia Institute of technology, the US) Community Engagement and Undergraduate Social Responsibility Attitudes; Cristiano Cordeiro Cruz (Aeronautics Technological Institute, Brazil) Supporting community emancipation and learning how to practice “another possible” engineering: the Brazilian Grassroots Engineering case LINK
- Film and fiction in engineering ethics education, with speakers Thomas Lennerfors (Uppsala University, Sweden) and Sarah Hitt (NMITE, The UK) LINK
- Using case studies in engineering ethics education, with speakers Cindy Rottmann (University of Toronto, Canada) Decoupling ethics from equity is neither ethical nor equitable; Aditya Johri (George Mason University, USA) Implementing Role-Play Case Studies for Teaching Ethics in Online Classes; Dympna O’Sullivan (TU Dublin, Ireland) Dark Patterns: When Software Engineers go to the Dark Side; Thomas Lennerfors (Uppsala University, Sweden): Case hacks: Four hacks for promoting critical thinking in education for sustainable development LINK
- Ethics in the context of accreditation, with speakers Alison Gwynn-Evans (University of Cape Town, South Africa) Using an expanded conceptual framework for ethics to engage with accreditation: A South African perspective; Madeline Polmear (University of Florida, USA) “Engineering educators’ perspectives on accreditation in the US context;” Diana Adela Martin and Catherine Deegan (TU Dublin, Ireland) Evaluating ethics for the purpose of accreditation on-site and online: challenges and suggestions from the Irish context; organiser Dr Sarah Junaid (Aston University, UK) LINK
The series will resume in 2026 with sessions dedicated to themes emerging from the Handbook of Engineering Ethics Education:
- AI – Gunter
- Sustenability – Diana
- Policy making – Tom
SEFI ethics newsletter and editorials (2019–present)
The SEFI ethics newsletter and editorials is a project that started in 2019 under the coordination of Roland Tormey (EPFL, Switzerland) and Diana Martin (UCL, The UK). Between 2020-2023, the project has been coordinated by Gunter Bombaerts (TU Eindhoven, The Netherlands) and Diana Martin (UCL, The UK). It published on the SEFI website editorials by contributors across the world and of different career levels, on themes ranging from values in engineering design, accreditation, sustainability, case studies, teaching with film and fiction, emotions and intuition in engineering education, social justice, water ethics, global and intercultural aspects in engineering ethics education, experiential education, change in engineering education, generative AI.