Code of Conduct¶

Inclusion and respect¶

All participants in team group meetings should strive to treat everyone they encounter in their professional life with respect, to seek out and listen to diverse opinions, and to treat those opinions with civility. They should be alert to any behaviour, from themselves or others, that would exclude or disregard other members in work-related activities.

Discrimination¶

Participants should promote equality of opportunity and treatment for all their colleagues, regardless of (in alphabetical order) age, disability, ethnicity, gender, marital status, nationality, physical appearance, political affiliation, pregnancy, race, religion, sexual orientation, and status as a caregiver (including as a parent or family member).

Harassment and bullying¶

We will not tolerate verbal, nonverbal, physical or sexual harassment or bullying of any kind. Behaviour and language acceptable to one person may not be acceptable to another. Unwelcome attention, threatening or abusive language, and insulting, hurtful, racist or disrespectful comments are strictly banned from team group meetings. Participants must make every effort to ensure that their words and actions communicate respect for others.

Unwelcome behaviour and language include comments or questions related to any of the characteristics listed above (age, disability, ethnicity, gender, marital status, nationality, physical appearance, political affiliation, pregnancy, race, religion, sexual orientation, and status as a caregiver).

Participants shall not recklessly or maliciously harm, or attempt to harm, directly or indirectly, the reputation or career prospects of others.

We place a high priority on eliminating sexual harassment from the workplace. Sexual harassment includes, but is not limited to, sexual advances, requests for sexual favours, and verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature when either:

a) submission to or rejection of such advances, requests or conduct is made, explicitly or implicitly, a term or condition of employment or a basis for employment or advancement decisions; or

b) such advances, requests or conduct have the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual's work performance by creating an intimidating, hostile, humiliating or sexually offensive work environment.

Scientific misconduct¶

All participants should demonstrate personal and organisational integrity in all matters. Fabricating data, or selectively reporting data with the intent to mislead or deceive, is unethical, unacceptable and fraudulent. The same applies to any kind of plagiarism (including of internal communications) and to the appropriation of others' unpublished data or research results without permission and attribution.

Honest error is an integral part of the scientific enterprise. It is not unethical to be wrong, provided that errors are promptly acknowledged and corrected when they are detected. This includes taking full responsability for errors related to use of AI tools.

Participants are formally committed to strict confidentiality regarding unpublished results and discussions presented at team group meetings.

Communication¶

All participants should strive to communicate inclusively, using accessible language. For example, acronyms should always be spelled out the first time they are used, and their use should be kept to a minimum in all forms of communication (presentation slides, etc.).

Privacy¶

While we maintain the overall principle of openness and transparency, we recognise that there are situations in which privacy and confidentiality are essential. Redistributing private emails or other messages containing personal feelings or opinions is considered a breach of this Code of Conduct.

Anyone wishing for a higher degree of privacy for their correspondence or presentations can add the following statement:

The content of this email/work is confidential and intended only for the specified recipient(s) or attendees. It is strictly forbidden to share any part of this message/work with any third party without the written consent of the sender.

Photo permission¶

By signing this form, you grant us permission to use group photos of participants taken during team group meetings for promotional purposes, including but not limited to publication on websites, and for other scientific purposes such as outreach.

General information¶

This Code of Conduct is based on examples from large scientific collaborations, including but not limited to Euclid and Rubin.

The main language of team group meetings is English, so that everyone can be included in communications. Please follow this recommendation during meetings and scientific discussions.