VISION
The medical-scientific mission of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) means that, in order to fulfil its social responsibility, it carries out, among other things, innovative research aimed at preventing, predicting and curing diseases.
In doing so, the VUB pursues an optimal research environment by providing the necessary support for researchers and enabling and requiring continuous training. Moreover, every VUB researcher signs the "charter of the good researcher" which includes clear guidelines on correct scientific-ethical behaviour, as well as regulations on breaches of scientific integrity. All this means that research is conducted in a strictly regulated framework.
When conducting scientific research at the VUB, not only legal obligations are taken into account but also social-ethical considerations. For example, every researcher has to ask himself the question "What is the most appropriate model to answer my research question?" beforehand. Examples of appropriate models include computer simulation, conducting tests on cells and tissues from laboratory animals and/or humans (in vitro research) or conducting experiments on laboratory animals (in vivo research). The VUB is strongly committed to the development of animal-free methods through the expansion of the IC-3R Centre .
If animal testing is necessary within a research project, those involved must comply with the legal and ethical standards laid down in (inter)national laws and regulations. These stipulate, among other things, that any project requiring animal testing must receive ethical approval from a legally recognised Animal Experiments Ethics Committee (ECD) before it can start.
An important question that the VUB's Animal Ethics Committee always asks itself during the evaluation of a research project is: "What is the social and scientific added value of the expected results of the research and does this added value outweigh the discomfort that the laboratory animal might experience?".
If the experimental animal research has significant added value, efforts will always be made to maximise the application of the legal principles of the 3Rs. These stand for "Replacement", "Reduction" and "Refinement". On the one hand, this means that researchers should always use the "lowest" possible animal species and reduce the number of animals to a scientifically sound minimum. On the other hand, animals must be housed in the best possible conditions and their welfare must be monitored by researchers, veterinary experts and members of the Animal Welfare Unit. With the construction of a new VUB animalarium, significant investments will be made in the coming years to enable further optimised housing and animal care.