Application for Ethical Approval

This form must be completed by any undergraduate or postgraduate student, or member of staff at St Mary’s University, who is undertaking research involving contact with, or observation of, human participants.

Undergraduate and postgraduate students should have the form signed by their supervisor, and forwarded to the Faculty Ethics Sub-Committee representative. Staff applications should be forwarded directly to the Faculty Ethics Sub-Committee representative. All supporting documents should be merged into one document (in order of the checklist) and named in the following format: ‘Full Name – Faculty – Supervisor’

Please note that for all undergraduate and taught masters research projects the supervisor is considered to be the Principal Investigator for the study.

If the proposal has been submitted for approval to an external, properly constituted ethics committee (e.g. NHS Ethics), then please submit a copy of the application and approval letter to the Secretary of the Ethics Sub-Committee. Please note that you will also be required to complete the St Mary’s Application for Ethical Approval.

Before completing this form:

• Please refer to the University’s Ethical Guidelines. As the researcher/ supervisor, you are responsible for exercising appropriate professional judgment in this review.
• Please refer to the Ethical Application System (Three Tiers) information sheet.
• Please refer to the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and Commonly Made Mistakes sheet.
• If you are conducting research with children or young people, please ensure that you read the Guidelines for Conducting Research with Children or Young People, and answer the below questions with reference to the guidelines.

Please note:

In line with University Academic Regulations the signed completed Ethics Form must be included as an appendix to the final research project.

If you have any queries when completing this document, please consult your supervisor (for students) or Faculty Ethics Sub-Committee representative (for staff).

St Mary’s Ethics Application Checklist

The checklist below will help you to ensure that all the supporting documents are submitted with your ethics application form. The supporting documents are necessary for the Ethics Sub-Committee to be able to review and approve your application. Please note, if the appropriate documents are not submitted with the application form then the application will be returned directly to the applicant and may need to be re-submitted at a later date.