University Research Ethics Committee (UREC)
University Research Ethics Committee (UREC) has specific responsibility for institutional oversight of matters relating to ethics and governance in research undertaken by both staff and postgraduate research students that involves human participation, personal sensitive data or human material. For any form of research involving these factors and where UEL is sponsor, the responsibility of UREC is to:
- protect research participants
- protect researcher(s)
- protect the integrity of research
UREC's membership is multi-disciplinary, encompassing academic staff and researchers from across our academic schools and research institutes, alongside non-research lay members. All research conducted by both staff and postgraduate research students (MPhil / PhD / Professional Doctorate by Research / MRes) involving any human participation, personal data or human material will require formal approval from UREC in advance.
Please note the following:
- No recruitment of human participants for the proposed research may occur until ethical approval from UREC is confirmed.
- Samples of any documentation to be passed to participants as part of the proposed research, such as information sheets or consent forms, must be enclosed with the application.
Forms
Why is ethical approval needed?
The UREC review process is intended to ensure research sponsored by our University has a minimal risk of harm, results in benefit, creates impact and is also sensitive to the unique parameters of the research.
For the study to be covered by our University's insurance and indemnity policy, prior approval from UREC must be obtained before any research takes place, as detailed above. If a participant in the study submits a claim against the researcher and UREC approval is not in place, the staff member or student would be personally liable. If the claim results in litigation in order to resolve a resulting dispute, the researcher will also consequently be responsible for any claims.
The process of ethical review and approval is primarily designed to protect the rights and interests of participants along with that of the researcher. It is often the case that participants may seek evidence of ethical approval, thus the researcher is actively increasing the potential recruitment scope of the study. By submitting for ethical review, the researcher is also submitting their proposed project to a wider level of interdisciplinary scrutiny, and may often find their research design and methodology informed and improved as a direct result.
Many publications will now no longer accept results of research studies for publication where ethical approval has not been achieved. As such, evidence of ethical approval will nearly always be required in order for researchers to publish findings within the broader community. In addition, it is now widely accepted that funding bodies, including research councils, will not grant financial support for research projects that have not received ethical approval.
Submitting for ethical approval
UREC will convene for two meetings in both Semester A and Semester B of the academic year 2012-13, with one additional meeting during the Semester C. These dates are listed below with the corresponding deadlines for the submission of applications to Quality Assurance and Enhancement (QAE):
Semester A
UREC Meetings |
Deadline for Applications to QAE |
Wednesday 26 September 2012 |
Wednesday 12 September 2012 |
Wednesday 14 November 2012 |
Wednesday 31 October 2012 |
Semester B
UREC Meetings |
Deadline for Applications to QAE |
Wednesday 16 January 2013 |
Wednesday 2 January 2013 |
Wednesday 6 March 2013 |
Wednesday 20 February 2013 |
Semester C
UREC Meetings |
Deadline for Applications to QAE |
Wednesday 12 June 2013 |
Wednesday 29 May 2013 |
All completed applications should be forwarded via email to researchethics@uel.ac.uk
