Code of Ethics

The purpose of the Code of Ethics is to clearly present to you the criteria according to which you are expected to behave as a Feinberg Graduate School student or postdoctoral fellow. This includes accustoming you to ethical responsibility and the highest possible standards of academic integrity and proper behavior in general; helping you develop a sense of responsibility; bringing about your active participation in upholding such standards, and encouraging an environment of mutual trust and respect.

It is the joint responsibility of all of the school’s graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to fulfill this aim. Devotion to high ethical standards, academic honesty and rules of conduct enhance the quality of education provided by the Feinberg Graduate School, and promote the prestige of the degrees it awards. Any failure to fulfill the rules of the Code will result in disciplinary measures by the Feinberg Graduate School. It should be noted that inappropriate behavior excludes mistakes made in all innocence, those due to negligence, and differences of opinion.

Standards

As a student or postdoctoral fellow of the Feinberg Graduate School, you are expected to:

  • Present and indicate your academic achievements honestly and fairly, whether orally or in writing. You will not knowingly deceptively represent essential facts to other students, academic staff, other university employees, potential employers or any other person, and will not knowingly hide information or act deviously in order to obtain benefits from FGS or in connection with your studies at the school.
  • Respect materials, experimental data and property, both that of the Weizmann Institute of Science and that of other students. You will not make wrongful or unfair use of materials, data or other property of the FGS, WIS or another student, particularly not by obtaining access or removing information or other property, and will not make commercial or other use for profit of the materials, including from the website or software purchased by WIS for the sole purpose of study.
  • Respect the individual rights, health and safety of others, and their possessions.

Academic Integrity

The Weizmann Institute of Science, and the Feinberg Graduate School as an integral part of it, constitutes a scientific community with the pursuit of knowledge being its central aspiration. Adherence to the rules of academic integrity is essential to the success of this scientific endeavor. Every FGS student and postdoctoral fellow is responsible for constantly maintaining the highest standards of integrity and devotion to the rules of the Code hereinafter. Actions influencing, or intended to have influence on, the education, research, acquisition of knowledge, or fair evaluation of an FGS student’s performance or postgraduate fellow’s performance are utterly forbidden. Such actions include, but are not limited, to the following:

  • Cheating


    Use, or the attempted use of, help materials or study aids prohibited for use in a particular examination or other academic paper; or preventing others from using permitted help, materials or study aids.
  • Plagiarism


    Use of another person’s ideas, data or language, without appropriate specific acknowledgement.
  • Forgery


    Submission of false or altered information in an academic or research paper.
  • Multiple submissions


    Submission, without prior permission, of a piece of work that has already been submitted in fulfillment of a different academic requirement.
  • Falsification of academic records

    Falsification or alteration or an attempt to alter any part of a student’s transcript or academic records, whether before or after the student’s arrival at FGS.
  • Aiding academic fraud


    Knowingly helping, or attempting to help, someone else violate any of the Code’s stipulations.

If you are unsure whether your actions constitute a violation of academic integrity, you are responsible for clarifying the situation. You are recommended to do so by consulting with your advisor, or with the FGS staff.

Personal Conduct

As a Feinberg Graduate School student or postdoctoral fellow, you are expected to behave in accordance with the reputation of the Weizmann Institute of Science, the Feinberg Graduate School, and the students themselves. You are also expected to follow the directives of the Weizmann Institute and Feinberg Graduate School authorities, teaching faculty and other employees, as issued in the course of their duties.

This expectation of personal conduct includes acting in accordance with the rules and regulations concerning the use of Weizmann Institute facilities such as halls, laboratories, libraries, student dormitories, apartments, offices, sports facilities, parking lots and open spaces. Similarly, you are not to:

  • Disrupt lectures, research, work, or any other activity within the school or the grounds of the Weizmann Institute.
  • Cause harm to lecturers, or other staff or students of the Weizmann Institute or Feinberg Graduate School, their reputation, or possessions.
  • Damage any property belonging to the Weizmann Institute or Feinberg Graduate School or belongings used by them.