Queen's University Belfast | Research Ethics

Research Ethics

The School is committed to ensuring that all research undertaken by its staff and students is conducted to the highest standards of integrity. Central to this is the consideration of ethical issues arising from research involving human participants, material, and data. The School has established a Research Ethics Committee (REC) as a sub-committee of the School’s Education Committee to implement QUB’s policy on the ethical approval of research and to ensure that both student (UG, PT, and PGR) and staff research complies with best ethical practice. The REC meets minimally three times a year to review all research projects that involve human participants in an ethically significant sense. It is the responsibility of all staff and students to consider the ethical implications of their research projects. In particular, staff and students are expected to have read the School’s Guidelines and Procedures Governing Ethics in Research, the University’s Policy on the Ethical Approval of Research, and the University’s Code of Good Conduct in Research. Supervisors of student research (whether UG, PT, or PGR) are responsible for ensuring that their supervisees are aware of, and design and conduct their research in line with, best ethical practice. Supervisors should also, where necessary, inform their supervisees of the various opportunities for research ethics training both within and outside the School.

All research projects (UG Dissertation & Project; MA Dissertation; PGR research; Staff research projects; etc) must undergo initial ethical review to ascertain whether they pose ethical problems (see the School’s Guidelines and Procedures Governing Ethics in Research for the procedures operative at each level of research at this initial stage). Because most research conducted in the School does not involve human participants in a significant sense, ethical review will normally not go beyond this initial stage. However, those students and staff conducting research projects involving human participants, material, or data in a significant sense must complete a copy of the School’s Ethics Review Application Form, which is to be submitted to the Chair of the REC, thereby initiating a second, formal review process. The REC will consider the ethical implications of the research projects submitted and render a judgement in each case. The REC meets in mid December, mid February, and early June.

Membership of the School REC

Dr Tom Walker (Chair)

Mr Conor O'Neill

Prof Yvonne Galligan

Dr Susan McManus

Dr Ciarán O’Kelly (Lay Member)

Key Links

School Guidelines and Procedures Governing Ethics in Research (click here)

School Ethics Review Application Form ( click here)

QUB Policy on the Ethical Approval of Research (http://www.qub.ac.uk/rrs/webpages/ethical_approval_policy.htm)

QUB Code of Good Conduct in Research (http://www.qub.ac.uk/rrs/webpages/research-governance.htm)

Further Links