Antimicrobial resistance and animal health: Exploring tensions in public/professional concepts of ethical responsibility in farm/companion animal medicine

Overuse of antibiotics in both human and animal fields is widely associated with the rise of antibiotic resistance. In the early 2000s, the EU banned the use of key antibiotics used specifically as growth-promoters in farming. However, the prophylactic use of antibiotics for farm and companion animals has become controversial. Specifically, a key question focuses on how to draw the boundary between ‘acceptable prophylactic’ use and ‘unacceptable routine’ use. Indeed, some MEPs have called for research and policy responses to settle this controversy (European Parliament 2011).

In this context, the role of the veterinary profession has recently come under the spotlight. For example, The Responsible Use of Medicines in Agriculture Alliance (RUMA) has issued best practice guidelines for ‘responsible use’ and these have influenced quality assurance schemes such as Red Tractor. The issue of responsible prescribing is also raised for companion animals (Battersby, 2014). However, exploratory research conducted at the University of Nottingham shows that while the political profile of this issue has risen, relatively little is known about how antibiotics are actually dispensed and the role of vets in this regard. This project will attempt to rectify this serious gap by investigating the extent to which the concept of responsibility is constructed by veterinarians, publics and policy-makers, with the intent that an ethical analysis will illuminate this issue. The project will draw on conceptualisation of responsibility (e.g. from responsible innovation work) and will deconstruct the idea of responsibility in relation to existing work on professionalism, expertise, veterinary ethics and human-animal relations.

Methods: The research will utilise qualitative methods and approaches from Applied Ethics and STS. It will consist of three components: Documentary analysis; Interviews with professionals and policy makers; and ethnographic fieldwork in a veterinary practice or on farm.

The successful candidate will be based at the Centre for Applied Bioethics (CAB) (nottingham.ac.uk/bioethics), Schools of Biosciences and Veterinary Medicine and Science and will be a member of the Leverhulme ‘Making Science Public’ Programme.
(nottingham.ac.uk/sociology/research/projects/making-science-public/index.aspx).


This is an interdisciplinary project as reflected in the expertise of PhD supervisors. Dr Kate Millar (CAB) is a bioethicist with expertise in animal and veterinary ethics and the use of participatory decision-making tools and an interest in normative constructions of responsibility. Dr Sujatha Raman (Institute for Science and Society) is a STS scholar with expertise in issues related to antibiotic resistance. Dr Pru Hobson-West (CAB) is a social scientist with a background in medial sociology, STS and bioethics.

The studentship is funded by the Leverhulme Trust and covers the UK/EU tuition fee (£4,052 p.a.) and a tax free stipend (£14,057 pa.).
Field work will take place in the UK, but the successful candidate will be encouraged to participate in EU/international research networks

Please note: Interviews will take place during the week beginning 10 August 2015

Please contact Dr Kate Millar (kate.millar@nottingham.ac.uk) if you have any questions.

Minimum 2.1. undergraduate degree, preferably in a relevant subject, e.g. social sciences, philosophy, science and technology studies (STS), political science, veterinary medicine and sciences, biosciences.

Please email your CV and a covering letter to Kate Millar (kate.millar@nottingham.ac.uk)