Tübingen–Tartu Ethics Collaboration at Susimetsa Philosophicum, September, 2025

In September 2025, ethicists from the Universities of Tübingen and Tartu met at Theda Rehbock’s Philosophicum in Susimetsa — a writing and retreat house created according to the wishes of philosopher Dr Theda Rehbock, who spent time as a postdoctoral researcher at the Ethics Centre in Tübingen and later lived in Estonia until her much-too-early death. In her will, she designated her house as a place for writing, reflection, and encounter.

The workshop continued the long tradition of collegial exchange between the two ethics centres. It was followed by several days of internal work by the Tübingen group (Jacqueline Bellon, Cordula Brand, Jana Hecktor, Jonathan Lübke, Simon Meisch, Thomas Potthast) on their forthcoming Handbook on Ethics in the Sciences, and a subsequent visit to the University of Tartu.

The joint programme focused on ethics in the sciences: how rules of good scientific practice should be understood within broader ethical, methodological, and societal contexts. Discussions addressed current and future challenges for the scientific system, the changing role of biology in the 21st century, questions of justice and sustainability, and the impacts of digitalisation and AI.

The closing day at the University of Tartu highlighted innovative teaching approaches, including flipped-learning modules and ethics learning games developed in Tartu.

We are grateful for the inspiring discussions, the time for deep reflection, and the warm hospitality. This meeting marks the beginning of further collaborations — kohtumiseni varsti!

Thomas Potthast and Cordula Brand

This is a shorter version of the article that appeared in the Newsletter of the International Centre for Ethics in the Sciences (IZEW), University of Tübingen, Germany.