In 1984, the Research Institute of Applied Ethics was founded by Edgar Morscher. In 2006 the Institute was taken over by the Paris Lodron University of Salzburg and the Paracelsus Medical University and was launched as an inter-university institute on 1.1.2007 with Prim. HR Univ.-Prof. Dr Christian Menzel serving as interim director and Univ.-Prof. Dr. Edgar Morscher as his deputy.
 
The Institute’s scope includes the field of applied ethics, with an emphasis on bioethics and medical ethics in particular.