THE ETHICS RESOURCE SITE was established at Delaware State University as an intrinsic part of the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR): Research Infrastructure Improvement (RII-1). Funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), with a 50% match from the State of Delaware, this program was designed to improve the scientific research infrastructure throughout the state of Delaware.

THE ETHICS RESOURCE SITE is maintained as a result of the EPSCoR: RII-2 grant, which is funded by the NSF (with a match by the State of Delaware). Administered by the Delaware Environmental Institute (DENIN), this program continues as a partnership of the following institutions of higher learning: the University of Delaware, Delaware State University, Wesley College, and Delaware Technical and Community College. Each of these partner institutions has its own unique, but complementary, project that, when taken in conjunction, advances the various strategic imperatives of the grant, the major focus of which is “to achieve a sustainable environment while ensuring a prosperous economy,” and the title of which is: “Building Research and Education Infrastructure to Enhance Environmental Science and its Application in Delaware.”

Through the auspices of the EPSCoR: RII-2 collaborative agreement, the Center for Integrated Biological and Environmental Research (CIBER) has been established at Delaware State University. Housed in the College of Agriculture and Related Sciences, CIBER serves as the hub of a network of natural scientific researchers from all four of the Delaware EPSCoR partner institutions of higher learning. In addition to a director and staff to conduct the day-to-day activities, a Core Implementation Team and an Advisory Board serve to guide the on-going inter-institutional collaboration of research faculty in their efforts to secure grants, to conduct cutting edge natural scientific research, and to engage in educational and other outreach activities for the benefit of the citizens of the state of Delaware.

THE ETHICS RESOURCE SITE was established at Delaware State University as a repository of expertise in normative ethical theory and in applied ethics, in areas that include (but are not limited to):

• Environmental Ethics,
• Bioethics (i.e., ethical issues that arise in the biological sciences as well as those that arise in the field of health care), 
• Ethics in Technology, and
• Business Ethics.

A main purpose of THE ETHICS RESOURCE SITE is to serve the citizens of the state of Delaware in, at least, two fundamental ways:

• first, to raise awareness concerning ethical issues with which people are confronted in their daily lives (both public and private), and
• second, to address the needs of a variety of groups of people with respect to the clarification of ethical concepts and the understanding of ethical issues, both of which are relevant to such groups of people (e.g., people who share the same occupational, social, or ethnic concerns).

Lectures, Forums and Panel Discussions

In an effort to raise the awareness of members of the community-at-large regarding social issues that impact our daily lives as well as to promote an understanding of the ethical concerns and a clarification of the ethical concepts that are inherent in such issues, public lectures, forums, and panel discussions are sponsored by THE ETHICS RESOURCE SITE.

Ethics Seminars for Researchers, Faculty and Students

In addition to serving the community-at-large, another purpose of THE ETHICS RESOURCE SITE is to offer seminars and courses (on ethical issues that are relevant to researchers in the natural sciences) for faculty, post-doctoral research fellows, graduate students, and undergraduate students from the partner institutions who are engaged in research activities which are related to the Delaware EPSCoR program.

Professional Ethics Consulting Service

For employees of governmental agencies, employees of business enterprises, members of professional associations, and members of other such organizations, THE ETHICS RESOURCE SITE conducts the following types of activities: