Applications

A new online ethics system for research involving humans is coming soon

The University is currently engaged in a project to introduce a new online ethics system for ethics applications and review of research involving human participants, data and samples.

The system is currently under testing and is expected to launch in late 2024. School ethics committees will be able to opt in to using the system from 1 December 2024. Access to the old ethics system for new applications will cease on Friday 7 March 2025.

Visit the ethics management project webpage for more information, including links and resources for those piloting the system.

If your research involves human participants, their data or samples, then ethical review and approval is mandatory and must be obtained before starting your research.

Any material which you collect but for which you do not have ethical approval may not be publishable or allowed in your project; for students, if your dissertation or thesis fails to include evidence of ethical approval, then it could be failed. Also, failure to obtain ethical approval for research involving the recording of personal data may mean that the research is unlawful in terms of data protection.

Failure to obtain and adhere to ethical approvals is defined as research misconduct.

Ethical review application

Information on the process of applying for ethical approval or amendments, including for collaborative projects, research taking place as part of a teaching module, and research involving human tissues or cell lines.

Applications for ethical review of research funders

Information on the process of applying for ethical approval of research funders, required when a funding body is not on the University’s pre-approved list.