This Regulation should not undermine research and development activity and should respect freedom of science. It is, therefore, necessary to exclude from its scope AI systems specifically developed and put into service for the sole purpose of scientific research and development and to ensure that the Regulation does not otherwise affect scientific research and development activity on AI systems. As regards product-oriented research activity by providers, the provisions of this Regulation should also not apply. This is without prejudice to the obligation to comply with this Regulation when an AI system falling into the scope of this Regulation is placed on the market or put into service as a result of such research and development activity and to the application of provisions on regulatory sandboxes and testing in real-world conditions. Furthermore, without prejudice to the foregoing regarding AI systems specifically developed and put into service for the sole purpose of scientific research and development, any other AI system that may be used for the conduct of any research and development activity should remain subject to the provisions of this Regulation. Under all circumstances, any research and development activity should be carried out in accordance with recognised ethical and professional standards for scientific research.