The Institute programs for 2006 through 2011, developed at Rutgers University-Newark, are made possible by grants from Merck & Co., Inc., a global research-driven pharmaceutical company dedicated to putting patients first.

Click one of the items below for more information:

2012 Rutgers-Merck Summer Bioethics Institute (July 8-14)

2012 Application Form

2011 Rutgers-Merck Summer Bioethics Institute

2010 Rutgers-Merck Summer Bioethics Institute

2009 Rutgers-Merck Summer Bioethics Institute

2008 Rutgers-Merck Summer Bioethics Institute

2007 Rutgers-Merck Summer Bioethics Institute

2006 Rutgers-Merck Summer Bioethics Institute

The Department of Philosophy and the Institute for Ethical Leadership (Rutgers Business School) at Rutgers University-Newark hosted the previous 2011 Rutgers-Merck Summer Bioethics Institute. The Institute introduces area high school students accepted for the program to the major ethical theories and the application of these theories to some of the most important issues in bioethics confronting contemporary society. In the summer of 2011 our focus was on ethical issues that arise in robotics—an interdisciplinary area that combines computer science, engineering, biology, philosophy, linguistics, and the neurosciences. The issues examined included the ethics of using robots in warfare, in the workplace, in the home, and in hospitals (as surgeons), whether robots should have rights if they are conscious and intelligent, whether internet agents (which are small-scale robots) should be given the ability to do ethical reasoning, and whether robots which are designed using principles of animal physiology are a new species of animal.

Each daily session of the Institute consisted of lectures (given by science and philosophy professors from Rutgers University and other universities), a critical thinking and writing workshop, and an interactive discussion of a case study or problem in bioethics. Instruction was also provided by a Rutgers librarian on using a modern library with its digital search strategies and tools, as the students prepared materials for presentations given at the end of the week.

The program is fully funded and without charge
for high school students who successfully compete
for acceptance in the one-week on-campus program.
For further information, please call 973-353-5498.