The question of human rights in science has by and large been neglected by human rights lawyers and human rights institutions. This is surprising as human rights in science have long been guaranteed in international human rights instruments. Things have recently started to change. This has been the case both at UNESCO and, more recently, at the UN. On 14 May, 2012 the UN Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights published a report on the meaning and application of the right to enjoy the benefits of scientific progress and its applications.  On 3-4, October 2013, a two-day seminar was organized by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva to discuss the meaning and application of the human right to science. The goal is for the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to publish recommendations and prepare a new General Comment on how to implement that human right. In the wake of this renewed interest for human rights in science and in view of the difficult issues the topic raises, the University of Fribourg and its Chair for Public International Law and European Law have decided to continue this debate in a small scientific setting and present a workshop on 23-24 May, 2014. This workshop brings together a group of academic human rights lawyers and human rights theorists specialized in the field and interested in delving deeper into some of its hard questions. By drawing together both international lawyers and philosophers, we hope to map and address those questions in a more comprehensive fashion and to suggest ways of guiding and reforming the current practice and institutional framework of human rights in science.

Compulsory registration (by 1st May, 2014) : lorna.loup@unifr.ch