Civil clause (German: Zivilklausel), sometimes civilian clause or civilians' clause, is a voluntary commitment by academic institutions to engage exclusively in civil (i.e. non-military) research.
The idea originates in Japan: In 1950, the Science Council of Japan established that its members will refuse to participate in military-related research projects. Such a declaration was repeated in 1967, and in 2017.Science Council of Japan March 27, 2017: Statement on Research for Military Security
In Germany, Universität Bremen was the first to put a Civil Clause in effect. Its resolution no.5113 from 1986 declared:
This declaration has been renewed in 1992 and in 2020Universität Bremen's Civilian Clause Confirmed (2020)
Since then, many German universities have followed this example.
Technische Universität Darmstadt requires:
TU Berlin's academic senate decided in 1991:
Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen amended its constitution in 2010 as follows:
Georg-August-Universität Göttingen on February 13 (2013) supplemented the following Civil Clause to its mission statement:
Civil Clauses can be regarded as contemporary extensions of Merton's norms on scientific ethos.
List of German Universities with Civil Clauses Technische Universität Berlin Universität Bremen Universität Konstanz Technische Universität Dortmund Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel Technische Universität Ilmenau Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen Universität Rostock Technische Universität Darmstadt Georg-August-Universität Göttingen Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster Universität Kassel Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg
External links German Initiative for Civil Clauses Zivilklausel Universität Köln Military use of research pushback in Japan and South Korea
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