Request ethical approval

If you're a member of University staff or a student, you can apply for ethical approval for your research using the forms below. For guidance on which ethical approval form you need to submit, please refer to the Ethics Decision Tree diagram below. You may also need to fill out a Research Proposal Ethics Checklist.

Animal Welfare and Ethical Review Body

Request approval for research that involves animals in any way.

Download AWERB ethical approval form

Submission deadlines

The AWERB panel meets regularly throughout the year to consider ethical approval applications. See their schedule of upcoming meetings and submission deadlines below.

Papers due	Meeting date	Time
16 Mar 2018	23 Mar 2018	10:00 – 12:00
15 Jun 2018	22 Jun 2018	10:00 – 12:00
14 Sep 2018	21 Sep 2018	10:00 – 12:00
30 Nov 2018	7 Dec 2018	10:00 – 12:00

Contact awerb@stir.ac.uk

Related links
- ASPA Guidelines
- European Convention for the Protection of Vertebrate Animals used for Experimental and other Scientific Purposes (1991)
- European Convention for the Protection of Animals during International Transport (Revised) (2006)
- RCUK Guidance for funding applications involving animal research
- Welfare of Animals (Transport) Order 1997

NHS, Invasive or Clinical Research

For health/patient research and other research involving physically invasive procedures or intrusive interventions on human participants.

Download NICR ethical approval form

Submission process

Additional Approval

Staff and students may also need to seek NHS Research and Development and NHS Research Ethics Committee approval via the Integrated Research Application System (IRAS). If you have any questions about seeking ethical approval through IRAS, please contact us at nicr@stir.ac.uk.

Whether NHS Research Ethics Committee approval is required or not, approval through NICR should proceed as outlined below:

Staff

Staff should complete and submit an IRAS application form, then send a copy of the application (including reference number) to NICR along with their completed NICR approval coversheet.

Students

Students should complete an IRAS application form, but not submit it. Instead, they should save a copy of the IRAS PDF form and send it to us alongside their completed NICR approval coversheet for authorisation.

The NICR committee meets regularly throughout the year to consider ethical approval applications. See their schedule of upcoming meetings and submission deadlines below.

Month	Date of NICR meeting	Closing date for submissions
April	24 Apr 2018	10 Apr 2018
May	22 May 2018	08 May 2018
June	26 Jun 2018	12 Jun 2018
July	No July meeting
August	21 Aug 2018	07 Aug 2018
September	25 Sep 2018	11 Sep 2018
October	23 Oct 2018	19 Oct 2018
December	11 Dec 2018	27 Nov 2018

Applicants should make themselves available between 11:00 and 15:00 to take enquiries from committee should the need arise. Please ensure an appropriate contact telephone number is provided on your NICR coversheet.

Related links

General University Ethics Panel

For all other research which has ethical considerations e.g. social, digital, environmental.

Download GUEP ethical approval form (for staff and postgraduate research students)

Download GUEP Student Research Project Ethical Approval (for undergraduate and postgraduate taught students)

Undergraduate and Taught Postgraduate Students should submit their form to the relevant Faculty/Divisional Mailbox:

Faculty	Contact
Stirling Management School	smsethics@stir.ac.uk
Arts & Humanities	ethicsFAH@stir.ac.uk
Computing Science & Maths	ethics@cs.stir.ac.uk
Psychology	psychethicssubs@stir.ac.uk
Faculty of Social Sciences	fossfacultyoffice@stir.ac.uk
Sport	sportethics@stir.ac.uk
Aquaculture	aquaguep@stir.ac.uk
BES	besguep@stir.ac.uk
Health Sciences	fhss.guep@stir.ac.uk

Download GUEP Fieldwork Risk Assessment Form

Submission deadlines

The GUEP panel meets regularly throughout the year to consider ethical approval applications. See their schedule of upcoming meetings and submission deadlines below.

Papers due	Meeting date	Time
13 Apr 2018	24 Apr 2018	10:00 – 12:00
11 May 2018	22 May 2018	10:00 – 12:00
08 Jun 2018	19 Jun 2018	10:00 – 12:00
03 Aug 2018	14 Aug 2018	10:00 – 12:00
07 Sep 2018	18 Sep 2018	10:00 – 12:00
12 Oct 2018	23 Oct 2018	10:00 – 12:00
02 Nov 2018	13 Nov 2018	10:00 – 12:00
01 Dec 2018	11 Dec 2018	10:00 – 12:00

Contact guep@stir.ac.uk

Related links
- Concordat to Support Research Integrity
- European Charter for Researchers
- European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity (2011)
- RCUK Policy and Guidelines on Governance of Good Research Conduct
- Singapore Statement on Research Integrity (2010)
- University Emergency Procedures
- University Safety Policy and Procedures
- Flesch Reading Ease Readability Formula
- Gunning Fog Index
- Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)

Ethics Decision Tree

Ethics Tree diagram

Principles, guidance and forms

The University of Stirling is committed to ensuring that all research conducted under our auspices is in accordance with the appropriate ethical, legal and professional frameworks, obligations and standards. The University’s ethical review process exists to ensure that our research activities continue to fulfil high ethical standards as well as legal obligations and safety standards.

The University’s guidelines for research ethics committees draw on the requirements of a number of institutions including; the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Framework for Research Ethics, the provisions of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA), the British Psychological Society, the UK Research Integrity Office (UKRIO) and other institutions to which the University is accountable. Due cognisance of both University and discipline-specific ethical standards and norms for practice-based research should be taken.

Please click on the following links to download the ethics guidance and forms you require:

Contact us

If you have a general question about our ethics policies and procedures, please get in touch.

Email us