What’s new?
Research and Innovation are pleased to announce that, following two years of consultation, they will be launching a new Research Ethics Risk Framework in September 2022. This framework provides a structure to identify ethical risks within a research project/activity. The risk status assigned to your application will then trigger the appropriate internal review process.
Why is this needed?
Research at the College has been scaling up over the last few years in terms of volume, complexity and breadth of subject matter. The external research landscape has also shifted and we have to ensure we are compliant with the Concordat to Support Research Integrity. In response to this position in 2020 Research and Innovation established an academic-led Task and Finish group to evaluate our existing research ethics review processes. They produced a findings report and one of the recommendations was to establish a Research Ethics Risk Framework
What is the aim of the Framework?
The overall aim of the Research Ethics Risk Framework is to:
- help to characterise the level of risk of research projects;
- implement more proportionate, efficient and timely review processes; and
- supplement research ethics application audit data with the category of risk.
Next steps
Research and Innovation will be hosting training sessions for researchers (and reviewers) on the Research Ethics Risk Framework in September. Invites will follow at the start of term. Further information on the launch of the Research Ethics Risk Framework and supporting resources can be found on the ethics intranet site.
Get in touch
If you have any queries, please contact Leisha Wickham, our Research Integrity & Ethics Manager, at ethics@rhul.ac.uk