The GFZ established a Commission for Ethics in Research in January 2025.

The Ethics Committee works to promote awareness of ethical issues at the research center and to integrate reflection on the possible ethical implications of research projects into everyday professional life. In accordance with its rules of procedure, the committee fulfills the following tasks

• Advising the Executive Board on ethics-sensitive research topics.
• Developing recommendations on national and international cooperative relationships of the GFZ in accordance with its ethical principles.
• Dealing with ethics-sensitive research proposals that have to be approved by an ethics committee.