Ethics

To start an application – log into Ethics RM using your University of Surrey username and password. Work your way through the form, answering the questions with as much information as possible. Imagine explaining the project to someone who know nothing about your research at all.  

Please answer the questions accurately. Your application may be selected for audit after a favourable ethical opinion has been issued.

If you’re unsure how to answer a question, please discuss the application with your supervisor. You can also click on the information bubble in the application form for further guidance, as well as reading the guidance documents provided below.

When you have completed the form and uploaded your project documentation, you can request the signature from your supervisor to approve your application. Your supervisor will need to log into the system so you can see their name and select it from the drop-down list.

Once your supervisor has considered your application, they can either approve and sign it, or send it back to you with suggestions for improvements.

Your application will then either be submitted for review or you will receive an email stating no review is required, which will be followed by a formal letter within 24 hours. 

If your project does need a review, you will receive all correspondence regarding your project through Ethics RM, including the favourable ethical opinion (FEO). You can only start your research once you have received the FEO.

Amendments to a project

If you need to make a change to your project after FEO has been issued, you will need to submit an amendment on Ethics RM.

If the project was submitted via Ethics RM, please go the project and click on the “create sub form” tile.

If the project was submitted on the ‘SAGE’ system, you will also need to make and amendment via Ethics RM. As the original review was not conducted through Ethics RM, you will first need to create a new project using the “Legacy Approved Application” form. Once you have submitted the legacy form, it will be auto approved, and you can then create and submit the amendment sub-form. 

Ethics RM applicant guide and help videos

Video tutorials: 

• Creating and submitting ethics application form
• Sharing and commenting ethics application form

 

Templates and guidance documents

The University of Surrey offers our students a free online training course in research ethics through Epigeum (use your UoS email to create an account and the token 3c2df94a). If you choose to complete the questionnaire at the end of the course and achieve over 80%, the platform will provide you with an internationally recognised certificate which you can add to your C.V.

We recommend that you complete the following courses when starting to plan your research and before you submit your application on Ethics RM. 

• Ethics 1: Good Research Practice
• Ethics 2: Research with humans in the health and social sciences
• Research Ethics in Practice
• The importance of ethics

Data Management Policy 

Further information on how the data you provide in your application to the UEC is used is available in our UEC applicant privacy notice (PDF)

Audit

Please note your project application may be selected for audit after a favourable ethical opinion has been issued.

The University’s Ethics procedure mandates that all research involving human participants must be subject to review by an Ethics Committee. 

If your research does not involve the collection of any new data from human subjects, and is based only on the use of secondary data, then it does not require ethics review or for an application to be submitted on Ethics RM. 

To determine if your project involving secondary data matches the above criteria, please read and complete the Secondary Data Checklist. 

The checklist must be completed and signed by a supervisor (where applicable) before starting any research involving only secondary data. This signed checklist should be retained as evidence to support your research.

For attention of all individuals that use animals, animal-derived material, or their data

Following a successful software update in November 2024, you can now access SAGE-AR using this new link: https://app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/surrey/sage-ar-animal-research-november-2024. Please read the associated information carefully before proceeding with new submissions and ensure that you use the latest versions of the supporting documents.

1. Does my activity require review?

Yes, all members of the University proposing to carry out research involving animals, animal-derived materials, or their data, must be assessed for ethical and governance issues before recruitment or data collection commences.

The Self-Assessment Governance and Ethics – Animal Research (SAGE - AR) form is used to capture information about your activity and provide an initial assessment of ethical and governance issues, and direct you to next steps.

SAGE-AR must be completed by:

• Staff and visiting researchers
• Postgraduate research students (PhD, PsychD and EngD)
• Postgraduate taught students (MSc)
• Undergraduate students.

SAGE-AR must be completed even if you are performing the activity or accessing material or data from locations other than the University, or from a collaborator or third party.  Additional information may be requested to ensure such activities are performed in line with University and relevant national legislation and best practice guidance.

2. Who reviews my activity?

Two committees provide ethical and governance review of activities involving animals, animal-derived materials, or their data at the University. These are the:

A. Animal Welfare and Ethical Review Body (AWERB)

The AWERB is legally mandated to perform ethical review of activities involving animals that fall under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 as amended in 2012 by European Directive 2010/63/EU (hereafter referred to as ‘ASPA’). The committee develops ethical advice on all matters related to animal welfare, care and use at the University. For more details, please see our Use of animals in research and teaching ethics webpages or contact AWERB@surrey.ac.uk

B. NASPA

NASPA is a sub-committee of AWERB and reports to them on a regular basis. NASPA is tasked with performing ethical and governance review of activities that involve the use of animals, animal-derived materials, or their data, that fall outside the scope of ASPA. This includes activities such as clinical veterinary research, wildlife surveys and primary cell culture. For more details, please see our animal research information webpages or contact NASPA@surrey.ac.uk.

If you need to make changes to an activity/project that has previously received a Favourable Ethical Opinion, a new form must be completed in case ethical and governance issues have changed.

3. Completing SAGE-AR and getting help

• Instructions on how to navigate through SAGE-AR, save ‘unfinished’ applications, share responses with others (i.e. supervisors) or submit the completed form are given on the first page of SAGE-AR.
• If you are a student, DO NOT click on the ‘Finish’ button, until your supervisor has confirmed your responses to questions are correct.
• Your responses in SAGE-AR will indicate if your activity involving animals, animal-derived materials, or their data, meets the University’s current review threshold and whether you need to submit other documentation to AWERB or NASPA as part of the review process.
• If you need any help completing SAGE-AR, please contact the most relevant ethics review body:
  • awerb@surrey.ac.uk  (for genera enquires, for ‘ASPA’ research)
  • naspa@surrey.ac.uk (for non-‘ASPA’ research activities, for activities relating to teaching)
  • neer@surrey.ac.uk (for enquires about activities, material or data being acquired or performed elsewhere than the University).

4. What do I do next? SAGE-AR outcomes

SAGE-AR submissions will be regularly reviewed by the AWERB or NASPA Chairs/deputy Chairs for accuracy, with some entries further checked by registered veterinarians. Once you have completed and submitted your answers to SAGE-AR, make sure you save a copy of your submission and note your response ID. Proceed as outlined on the declaration page.  

Activities that do not involve animals, animal-derived materials or their data are not subject to NASPA review. No further steps are required in relation to the AWERB or NASPA committees.

Activities that also include humans as research subjects (e.g. research on or about humans) will be directed to apply for approval from the University Ethics Committee using the Ethics RM portal (https://research.surrey.ac.uk/ethics). Approval of both human and animal components must be in place before recruitment or activities can begin.

Activities that are restricted to the use of established cell lines or animal-derived reagents such as antibodies or serum fall below the University’s current ethical review threshold. The use of established cell lines can replace the use of animals in research and therefore is consistent with the 3Rs. Investigators that use animal-derived antibodies should explore whether non-animal-based approaches or reagents may be used instead. More information can be found here on the NC3Rs website and some commercial companies (e.g. BioRad, CiteAb) already offer these as part of their product range. Animal-free serum substitutes are also available from standard suppliers such as FisherScientific and Sigma-Aldrich, and these should be explored by all investigators as an alternative to buying in animal-derived products.  If your project is audited, subject to compliance checks or retrospective review (see section 7), being able to demonstrate this has been explored at regular points would be in line with best practice.

Activities that fall under the scope of ASPA will be directed to send a PDF copy of their SAGE-AR form to AWERB@surrey.ac.uk. Attainment of an ASPA Project Licence typically takes 6-12 months and involves many steps. You will be fully guided and supported through the process once you have notified the AWERB.  

Activities that require full NASPA ethical and governance review will be directed to submit various forms to NASPA@surrey.ac.uk. The forms that must be submitted will reflect the remit of individual projects including for example if there is human involvement and the collection of personal date for animal recruitment purposes.  Template forms with guidance notes on what is required are available in section 5.

Information must be submitted using the latest versions of each form and in all cases, version control (number and date) must be maintained. Forms marked with an asterisk (*) are mandatory whereas the remainder are optional depending on the nature of the stated activity.

• *PDF copy of your SAGE-AR form
• *NASPA Application form (which includes the study protocol, data management plan and risk assessment)
• Sample Tissue Storage Log (use template provided in line with best practice)
• Participant/owner study information sheet - (use template provided).
• Consent Form - (use template provided).
• Recruitment material - (posters, email circulars, social media posts, etc)
• Questionnaires
• Interview/forum guide sheet
• Translations of non-English participant-facing documents.

Governance checks will include checking:

• The management of personal data is in accordance with data policy and legislation
• Any aspects requiring referral to insurance (e.g. for international research), whether gatekeeper approvals are required
• The role of collaborators or third parties involved in the research
• Risk assessments are in place (e.g. for travel overseas, lone working etc)
• That the research is being conducted in accordance with legal and regulatory requirements.

Informed consent must be taken from the animal’s legal owner or an authorised agent of the legal owner. A member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (MRCVS) can refer to section 11 of the RCVS Code of Professional Conduct for Veterinary Surgeons: Supporting Guidance if they require more information.

Owners must be presented with the study information sheet and consent form, prior to giving written consent. Potential participants should be given adequate time to consider taking part in the research. This usually means there should be at least 24 hours between reading the information sheet and giving consent. Statements on the consent form must be consistent with what is stated in the corresponding information sheet.

Where animals are brought onto University of Surrey premises, researchers must observe all local procedures in relation to their management. For example, owners bringing animals to the School of Veterinary Medicine will need to complete an additional consent form.

Timelines and review steps: Full ethical and governance review, which is led by two members of the NASPA committee with all members having an opportunity to comment, typically takes 4-6 weeks. Applications that lack information and/or where responses to reviewer comments are needed will take longer. Applicants must respond to requests for more information within 3 months of any query letter or email. Failure to respond will result in your application being archived and individuals will be required to proceed with a new application.

Review begins with a basic document check carried out by the NASPA administrator to ensure the latest forms have been used and are complete, email addresses are valid, appropriate signatures are given, project titles and version control are consistent across all documents, and the University logo has been provided. Thereafter, the Chair/deputy Chair will assign a NASPA reference number and allocate your documents to other members of the committee for review. Complex activities that involve a combination of ASPA and non-ASPA work, those that are performed overseas or similar will usually take longer to complete and may be brought before the AWERB committee for discussion before a decision is issued. Please plan accordingly and submit these applications well in advance of anticipated project start dates.

Activities that require a preliminary assessment of ethics and governance review will be directed to submit a PDF copy of their SAGE-AR form to NASPA@surrey.ac.uk and await a response. This is because we may be able to ask you to abide by pre-approved detailed Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) in lieu of undergoing full ethical review. SOPs for use by individuals in the School of Veterinary Medicine include those for common livestock and companion animal species, and cadavers/biological samples. SOPs for use by individuals in the School of Biosciences include those for zebrafish larvae, animal monitoring and small mammal trapping. Please email NASPA@surrey.ac.uk for more information.

Activities that reflect a change to an existing approved research project will be required to complete forms specific to each committee in case ethical and governance issues have changed.

For NASPA

Complete the ‘Notification of Amendment’ form and submit this and any accompanying study documents to NASPA@surrey.ac.uk. You must make clear on the form the changes you intend to make and provide a reason for why these are necessary.

Update all documents (e.g. Participant information sheet) that contain the intended change and use yellow highlighting or strikethrough functions to enable us to track each change. All new documents should be given a new version number/date.

For AWERB (ASPA projects)

Complete the ‘Notification of Amendment’ form and submit this with the changes highlighted/struckthrough on the Project Licence. We strongly recommend you talk to the BRF manager or NVS prior to submitting any paperwork to ensure what you are proposing is feasible and reasonable within the context of your Licence. Submit all documents to AWERB@surrey.ac.uk.

5.0 Templates and guidance documents

Please note that this section will be updated as new documents become available.

• NASPA application form (v6.1 12 Nov 24)
• Notification-of-amendment NASPA (v4.0 31 Jul 24)
• Notification of PPL Amendment Form_ASPA (v1 31 Jul 24)
• Guidance for information sheets
• NASPA Generic Participant Information template (v3.0 31 Jul 24)
• NASPA Generic Consent form template (v3.0 31 Jul 24)
• Risk assessment template and guidance
• Data protection and security for UG and PGT students' projects
• Animal Tissue Log Sample Record (v1.0 21 Nov 2024).

6.0 Outcomes

Favourable ethical opinion (FEO) and governance approval to commence

When the committee are satisfied that all ethics and governance queries have been addressed satisfactorily, a letter will be issued by NASPA providing you with Favourable Ethical Opinion (FEO) and confirmation that all governance checks have taken place. You can then commence your research.

7.0 Queries

Please email assurance@surrey.ac.uk if you have any concerns about the ethics and governance review process used for animal research and teaching activities. Any feedback or concerns will be directed to the Chair of NASPA and AWERB and/or the Head of Assurance and escalated if necessary.

8.0 Audits, compliance checks and retrospective reviews

Your research activity may be selected for audit, undergo a compliance check or be subject to retrospective review at any time. All applicants submitting via SAGE-AR are expected to comply with this requirement.

Student applications

The NHS Research Ethics Committee (REC) and Health Research Authority (HRA) have introduced some restrictions on which students can apply for approval due to capacity issues resulting from the Covid-19 virus. Applications from postgraduate research students are permitted, however restrictions apply to undergraduate and masters-level students. The conditions are detailed on Health Research Authority website and the HRA have developed a student toolkit to assess whether you are eligible to submit a HRA and/or NHS REC application. Please complete this toolkit in the first instance and get in contact with RII Assurance team with the outcome to discuss your project.

If the outcome of the student toolkit is that you are unable to submit to the HRA or NHS REC, then you will need to consider revising your research proposal and you will need to discuss this with your supervisor.

Applying to the NHS and sponsorship

The University of Surrey act as sponsor for all applications made to the HRA, NHS REC, the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Justice and HMPPS (prison service). The RII Assurance team will review all documentation and confirm sponsorship before submission to the external bodies.

After confirming that your research is eligible, please discuss your study with your supervisor. Supervisors and post-graduate research students can access the document templates on the RII Sharepoint site. Taught students should ask their supervisor for these documents. 

 Students and supervisors are invited to contact RII Assurance team at the earliest opportunity to discuss their application. The Assurance team can advise on the documentation required and assist with the completion of the application.

Human tissue includes any material that consists of, or includes, human cells. The cell does not need to be viable. Common examples used by our researchers are blood (including plasma and serum), urine, stool swabs, saliva, and tumour samples obtained during surgery. Finger-prick blood tests are included, even if the samples are not kept. 

The University of Surrey holds a licence from the Human Tissue Authority for the storage of human tissue for the purposes of research. You can find details of our licence on the HTA website.

All researchers working with human tissue samples must comply with the Human Tissue Act requirements and our University governance procedures. 

Students should contact their supervisor if they intend to conduct research using human tissue samples. Supervisors can find information on the RII Sharepoint pages, or contact assurance@surrey.ac.uk.