The University expects its employees, or any other person conducting research on University premises, to abide by the University’s normal expectations of good practice in
research and to take all reasonable steps to ensure that ethical conduct of research involving human participants and personal data is observed at all times.
To facilitate this, the research ethics webpage provides the University Ethics Policy, an overview of the ethical review processes and high-level research ethics guidance. For fuller guidance on the application process, applicants should consult the website or contact point of the relevant research ethics committee.
Ethics Policies & Procedures
The University’s ethical review framework is designed to provide a rigorous and independent ethical review process that is proportionate to the perceived risks.
The University Ethics Policy sets out high-level expectations and guidance for ethical considerations and decision making regarding issues involving human participants and personal data as they arise in the work of the University.
The University Research Ethics Committee (UREC) is the overarching Committee at the University for the consideration of policies, procedures and guidance regarding ethical issues arising from research that involves human participants and personal data.
The School-level and department/faculty-level RECs oversee the ethical review of specific research projects involving human participants and personal data.
The University Research Ethics Review Appeals Procedure sets out the process for making an appeal and the grounds on which appeals can be made against the decision of any University research ethics committe.
Ethical review
All researchers embarking on research involving human participants or personal data as the subject of research should consider the ethical risks of their work. Where minimal ethical risk is identified, the lead researcher should seek reasonable independent ethical review (which may be expedited review where appropriate) from the appropiate University REC prior to embarking on the research work. This page provides further central guidance on seeking ethical review that supplements local research ethics guidance (you can find the webpages of the local RECs here)
Guidance and Resources
This website provides high-level guidance, advice and resources for anyone intending to submit an application for ethical review from a University research ethics committee. In addition, it also collates external guidance and resources from funders and professional associations.
For fuller guidance on the ethics application process, applicants should consult the website or contact point of the relevant research ethics committee.
Animal Research
Please refer to the Animals in Research and University Biomedical Services websites for policies and further details on research involving animals.