3rd International Conference Ethics of Engineering Life (ICEEL)
23–24 March 2026 | Vatican City | Free Online Participation via Zoom
What is the human being – and who is the human being?
With this existential question, the 3rd International Conference Ethics of Engineering Life (ICEEL) invites a global audience to an exceptional two-day dialogue on 23–24 March 2026, hosted in Vatican City and accessible worldwide through free online participation.
ICEEL addresses the ethical challenges arising from rapid advances in biomedicine, including gene- and cell-based therapies, tissue engineering, and regenerative medicine. While these technologies open new possibilities for restoring bodily functions and treating previously incurable diseases, they also raise profound questions about human dignity, identity, responsibility, and the limits of intervention in life itself.
The conference title — Quid est homo? Quis est homo? — articulates a central distinction:
What is the human being in biological and technological terms, and who is the human being as a person endowed with dignity, meaning, and moral responsibility. This distinction shapes the entire conference program.
REGISTER NOW (free online participation via Zoom): Click to Register.
The distinction articulated in the conference title—quid and quis—marks a central orientation of ICEEL.
It reminds us that understanding what the human being is in biological and technological terms must always remain connected to the deeper question of who the human being is: a person embedded in relationships, history, culture, and moral responsibility. Ethics, religion, philosophy, and the humanities are therefore not external add-ons to scientific progress, but essential partners in its interpretation and guidance.
ICEEL brings together internationally renowned speakers from science, medicine, ethics, religion, philosophy, communication, and the arts. Two keynote lectures frame the central inquiry, while the conference as a whole adopts an exceptional format: instead of traditional lectures, ICEEL is structured almost entirely around moderated panel discussions, fostering direct interdisciplinary exchange rather than monologue.
The conference is jointly organized by the NCCR Molecular Systems Engineering (University of Basel & ETH Zurich), the Pontifical Academy for Life (Vatican City), and Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital (Rome).
For more information visit: https://iceel.info/
