Master's Degree in Bio-law: Law, Ethics and Science

Master's file

Justification

The absence of a degree with similar characteristics, referring to Bio-law and Bioethics, represents a delay in the training process of students who wish to specialize, for professional or other reasons, in the field of bioethics applied to the legal environment in our country and, in particular, in the Universities of the Autonomous Community of Murcia. The catalog of disciplines that comprise Bio-law and Bioethics is certainly wide and does not have sufficient support in learning. Perhaps, of all this framework of unexplored knowledge for students, there is, as a great representative of the aforementioned deficit, Bio-law, which is a great unknown to the lawyer in many of its manifestations, as his study is not integrated in a specific field to give it unity. Although their knowledge and subsequent exercise affects not only legal professionals but also, and to a great extent, doctors and health professionals in general, biologists, philosophers, psychologists, sociologists, etc. and scientific-experimental researchers in general.

Aware of the need to systematically approach the study of the very diverse issues in which Biolaw is involved, from the Law School and in close collaboration with the "Center for Studies in Biolaw, Ethics and Health at the Universidad de Murcia ", The study program that is the subject of this Master has been prepared. Indeed, these are studies that, even though they are linked to the Law School, have a notable interdisciplinary dimension, for which reason collaboration with other university entities with a broader spectrum has been considered extremely pertinent. This is the case of the Center for Studies in Bio-law, Ethics and Health, where a large number of researchers from different branches of knowledge converge who can provide a broad vision of the subject to those who take the Master's in Bio-law: Law, Ethics and Science. In fact, a good part of the teaching staff of the Master is a member of the aforementioned Study Center.

As stated in the memory of the title, the references provided are numerous (national and international). Some of the most significant are the Spanish Bioethics Committee, the Observatori de Bioètica i Dret, the Interuniversity Chair of Law and the Human Genome at the University of Deusto, The Hastings Center (USA), or the UNESCO International Committee on Bioethics . The improvements are materialized in the beginning of a deep collaboration with the Interuniversity Center of Ricerca Bioetica (CIRB) of Napoli through the agreement that has been signed between it and the Center for Studies in Biderecho, Ethics and Health (CEBES) of the Universidad de Murcia , entity that collaborates directly with the teaching and development of the subjects of the Master.

Competencies

Basic skills

• Know how to apply the knowledge acquired and their ability to solve problems in new or little-known environments, both in bio-law, and within broader (or multidisciplinary) contexts related to their area of study.
• Ability to integrate knowledge and face the complexity of formulating bio-legal content judgments based on information that, being incomplete or limited, includes reflections on the social and ethical responsibilities linked to the application of their knowledge and judgments.
• Ability to communicate the conclusions (and the knowledge and ultimate reasons that support them) to audiences specialized in bio-law and bioethics who are no longer specialized in a clear and unambiguous way.
• Possess the learning skills that allow them to continue studying the science of bio-law in a way that will have to be largely self-directed or autonomous.
• Ability to publicly present research ideas, procedures or reports, to convey emotions or to advise people and organizations in the field of bio-law.

General Competences

• Being able to carry out autonomous and advanced research in the field of bio-law, both through the self-definition of work through its organization and temporal planning, and through the critical capacity to detect bioethical and legal problems that require a solution.
• Being able to issue a legal opinion on a controversial issue that reflects advanced training in legal interpretation, argumentation and methodology, as well as in critical awareness within the limits that respect and tolerance impose.
• Ability to work in a team in an interdisciplinary way, promoting active listening and respectful dialogue.
• Ability to innovate and create original bio-law work based on the application of ethical, legal and health knowledge to quality scientific research.

Specific Competences

• Being able to assess the importance of Law as a regulatory system for social relations, perceiving the necessary interdisciplinary vision of ethical and legal problems in the life sciences environment and from the knowledge of the principles that govern bioethics.
• Ability to make bioethical and biolegal decisions in problem solving through deliberative procedures that inform the work of legal operators and judges as well as members of hospital ethics committees, clinical trials, and ad hoc committees.
• Being able to understand and analyze the social, cultural, ethical and legal consequences of scientific progress on human life, especially advances in genetics and medicine.
• Being able to locate and interpret legislative updates and jurisprudential decisions on Bio-law, influencing, at the international level, the analysis of similarities and differences between societies.
• Ability to analyze, describe, assess and communicate empirical information on the reality of life sciences, health systems and biomedical research, deepening its ethical and legal implications.
• Identify and understand the problems and human needs, both individual and collective, that are generated at the beginning and end of life, providing possible solutions that are, at the same time, legally viable, ethically desirable and politically feasible.
• Ability to identify current debates in the biotechnological and biomedical fields by arguing about them rigorously and precisely using the applicable law, both in terms of legal regulation and in the field of legal responsibility that they may generate.
• Being able to search for information in various sources (Libraries, Newspapers, Databases, Internet, etc.) related to Bio-law, health sciences and the ethical and bioethical field.
• Being able to read, interpret and write legal texts relating the ethical foundations of the assumptions, the social consequences, their scientific premises and the health implications that they entail.
• Reinforce ethical attitudes related to the values that permeate human development (equality, freedom, equity, respect for people, etc.) and those related to academic and research tasks (prudence in handling data, confidentiality and secrecy professional, honesty in the treatment of information, etc.).
• Being able to analyze and understand health regulations –clinical and experimental-, the rights and duties that it generates and the way in which ethical conflicts are resolved.
• Ability to develop adequate oral and written communication to present in an efficient, clear and concise way, the results of a Master's thesis.

Graduation profile

Students who have completed this degree will have acquired the ideal competencies and skills to successfully face the challenges posed by professional profiles in Bio-law.

A teaching institution of higher education that has infrastructure for teaching and research of international excellence. An innovative, dynamic, responsible university committed to its environment, which does not forget its historical roots.

Mission, vision and values of the Universidad de Murcia

The Mission of the university outlines its purpose or reason for being, and its Vision reflects what it wants to become in the future, the perspective of the University in the long term.

The Universidad de Murcia is a public institution of Higher Education with an international scope of action. Its purpose is to contribute to the development of society, acting as a dynamic agent in cooperation with the other social agents. Its main activities focus on the development of Research, Training, Knowledge Transfer, and Cultural Dissemination, applying innovation and continuous improvement processes to all of them, with the purpose of achieving a high level of quality of results, visible through a clear transparency policy.

Its main values, included in the Code of Ethics of the Universidad de Murcia , are Commitment, Dialogue, Respect and Responsibility:

• The Commitment demands to assume the objectives of the University and adopt to achieve these goals a good administration and management, enhancing university social responsibility, overcoming personal and corporate selfishness to engage with others in university tasks and in solving common problems.
• The Dialogue implies the willingness to coordinate reasonably and reasonably with others to cooperate effectively taking into account the positioning, interests or situation of each one, with the purpose of peacefully solving those seeking the right balance and consensus.
• Respect implies treating all people with impartiality, deference and consideration, avoiding discrimination for reasons beyond their merits and avoiding prejudices, according to the consideration of the equal dignity of every human being as a supreme value.
• Responsibility consists in honestly assuming one's own duties and obligations, and being willing to give an account of this to whomever corresponds, acting in accordance with the ethical principles personally assumed, being key elements goodwill, coherence and exemplary practice.

These values are in turn identified with the defense and promotion of Human Rights, universal accessibility, equality between men and women, the culture of peace and democratic values, participation, interdisciplinarity, pluralism, defense of the environment. and sustainability.

10 reasons to choose the UMU

1. Why UMU?

Centennial University strategically positioned in the present and prepared for the future

The Universidad de Murcia (UMU) is an international institution with more than one hundred years old, whose origins date back to the thirteenth century. It has more than 30,000 students (2,000 of them international), 3,000 researchers and professors and more than 1,200 administration employees.

2. Multidisciplinary offer of studies

60 degrees, 72 masters and 36 doctorates

The UMU is a public and comprehensive university that offers 60 degree programs - 5 double degrees -, 72 master's degrees and 36 doctoral degrees in the fields of Arts and Humanities, Engineering, Health Sciences, Sciences, Social Sciences and Law.

3. Bet on quality education

Quality recognition in university centers and services

The Universidad de Murcia focuses on academic excellence and plays a very important role in research (350 research groups, 4 institutes and research centers), teaching and innovation in all areas of knowledge. In addition, it works closely with national and international companies.

4. Leading the way in digital technology, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence

Leading European Commission projects for research and innovation in cybersecurity

It offers a wide range of services, such as "Lola Chatbot", with artificial intelligence to help students choose their studies and answer questions in the admission process.

5. Connection with the labor market

More than 75% of students get an occupation after finishing the degree

UMU students have the opportunity to pursue intellectual development as well as to acquire professional skills.

6. University open to the world, with more than 2,000 students making international mobility plans

7 bilingual Spanish-English programs and students of more than 50 nationalities

Our institution offers 4 degree courses in English (Law, Business Management and Administration, Primary Education, and English Studies), and 3 postgraduate programs (Biology and Technology of Mammalian Reproduction, New Technologies in Computer Science, and Physics).

7. Satisfaction of international students

Located among the best rated universities in Europe by students

The International Welcome Point at the UMU (International Welcome Point - IWP) provides information on issues such as the admission procedure, obtaining accommodation and legalization.

8. Commitment to society

Attention to diversity and equal opportunities between women and men

UMU is the second university in Spain that integrates a greater number of students with disabilities. Through its Service of Attention to Diversity and Volunteering, it participates in the "Inclusive Campus Program: Campus without limits" funded by the Government of Spain, ONCE and the REPSOL Foundation.

9. Commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

Project best valued in terms of sustainable development

ODSessions is the project that the Universidad de Murcia is developing for the promotion and awareness of the 17 sustainable development goals of the United Nations. Until April 2021, the UMU will dedicate one month to each of these objectives with dissemination, recreational, training and solidarity activities.

10. Murcia, a city for students

Quality of life in a unique environment in the Mediterranean

Located in the southeast of Spain, the city of Murcia benefits from an excellent location, low cost of living and a great variety in the cultural and tourist offer. In its squares and terraces you can discover a quiet and friendly city for students. With about half a million inhabitants, it is the seventh city in Spain.

Ethical code

In order to transform the University into the most fair and honest version possible, the Code of Ethics of the Universidad de Murcia was approved in 2016, prepared after a process in which all the groups that are part of it collaborated.

The four fundamental values on which it is based, Commitment, Dialogue, Respect and Responsibility, should guide all the actions and relationships of the university community. Therefore, it is our priority to disseminate the Code of Ethics at all levels of the Universidad de Murcia , also seeking their full understanding and implementation.

Its effective compliance will be supervised by the Code of Ethics Monitoring Commission (CSCE), established on September 4, 2018. This is made up of people from different areas of the university community and experts:

• Antonio José Carrasco Hernández. Campus Infrastructure Coordinator
• Carmen Sánchez Trigueros. Director of the Unit for Equality between Women and Men
• Emilio Martínez Navarro. Responsible for the elaboration of the Code of Ethics
• Francisco Esquembre Martínez. Vice Chancellor for Research and Transfer
• José Antonio Cascales Saseta. Manager
• José Ramón Salcedo Hernández. Director of the Bioright Law Master: Law, Ethics and Science
• Juan José Vera Martínez. University Advocate
• Longinos Marín Rives. Vice Chancellor for Social Responsibility and Transparency
• Bald Pigeon. Vice Chancellor of Students and Services to the University Community
• José Miguel Rojo Martínez. Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Student Council of the Universidad de Murcia

Since its creation, the CSCE has organized both virtual and physical distribution of the Code of Ethics. Currently, all the buildings of the Universidad de Murcia , not only the faculties, but also those destined for the staff, have one or two dispensers with copies of the Code of Ethics, which are being replaced.

In addition, all the new workers of the Universidad de Murcia now receive the Code of Ethics in the Human Resources Area.

Other actions related to the dissemination of the Code of Ethics have been the giving of lectures on it to new students of some Faculties that required it, by Professor Emilio Martínez Navarro, or the appointment of classrooms as the values of the Code of Ethics, such as the Respect Room of the Faculty of Sports Sciences.