Ethical requirements regarding research (UTREC)
All research in all Schools of the University that involves data collection from certain types of questionnaires, interviews, interactive investigation, experimentation upon or demonstrations involving living human subjects, human tissues and / or other human samples, requires formal approval from the University Teaching and Research Ethics Committee (UTREC). Ethical approval is mandatory prior to commencement of research and work cannot be included in the research or receive assessment without it.
Students are responsible for completing the University’s ‘Ethical Application Form’ in order to gain formal approval from UTREC. Students must discuss their research proposal with their supervisor, and obtain their support, before submitting an Ethical Application Form.
When research involves children under 16, students should pay particular attention to the additional steps in the process which are outlined on the UTREC webpage Working with Children and Vulnerable Adults.
It is a requirement that any undergraduate Honours or Masters dissertation or PhD thesis that requires ethical approval from UTREC has the letter or email of ethical approval bound into an appendix before submission.
For further information please see the UTREC website.
Funders and ethics (UTREC)
All researchers receiving funding from an external organisation must complete a Funding Approval Application Form (in addition to an Ethical Application Form), unless the intended funder appears on the Automatically Approved Funders List published on the UTREC website. Researchers should also be aware that some bodies providing funding for projects may stipulate their own Ethical and Legal considerations. The researcher should be fully aware of any obligations specified by the body providing funding and the implications this may or may not have for their research, including methods of research, confidentiality and retention.