DPP Ethical Research Committee (DPP ERC) is responsible for formal ethical review and approval of research involving human participants or personal data conducted by DPP Master's and Doctoral students, and Bachelor's students supervised by DPP faculty members. DPP faculty and staff should apply for ethical review and approval of their own research to CEU Ethical Research Committee, see https://acro.ceu.edu/ethical-research.
Using the Checklist on Ethical Issues in Research ("Checklist"), students in conjunction with their supervisors should identify whether the research in question entails any ethical issues in accordance with the CEU Ethical Research Policy and Guidelines (the Ethical Research Guidelines are appended as Annex 1 to the Ethical Research Policy). The Checklist should always be submitted to, and discussed with, supervisors prior to commencement of research involving human participants or personal data.
In case potential ethical issues are identified by students in conjunction with their supervisors, the proposed project must be submitted to DPP ERC, and the student must complete the online research ethics training and obtain ethical approval from DPP ERC before commencement of the research. Note that journals may require certification that research has undergone formal ethics review and approval prior to its commencement for the publication of any research that involves human participants or personal data! Therefore, also research that is not considered to raise ethical issues may be submitted to the DPP ERC for review and formal approval prior to commencement of the research, and this is recommended (especially for PhD students). Retrospective ethical approval for research cannot be issued.
Please note that initial ethical review will take approximately 15 working days! In case the DPP ERC rejects the proposal or requires amendments to the application, resubmission and time for additional review may be required. In case of approval, a letter of ethical approval will be issued, and the research as approved can then commence.
Please note that initial ethical review will take approximately 15 working days! In case the DPP ERC rejects the proposal or requires amendments to the application, resubmission and time for additional review may be required. In case of approval, a letter of ethical approval will be issued, and the research as approved can then commence.
Required materials for submissions:
- Certificate of completion of the online ethics training (see https://acro.ceu.edu/research-ethics-training)
- Description of proposed research (half- to one page summary of research aim and methods).
- Checklist (see above) completed by the student and approved by the supervisor (please ensure that you don't merely answer all the questions Yes or No, but rather explain as appropriate to show that you have fully considered and resolved any potential ethical issues)
- Checklist (see above) completed by the student and approved by the supervisor (please ensure that you don't merely answer all the questions Yes or No, but rather explain as appropriate to show that you have fully considered and resolved any potential ethical issues)
- Consent form and participant information sheet (one-page documents to be prepared by researchers, see https://www.bio.cam.ac.uk/psyres/informationsheets). In case oral consent is more appropriate, a script should be submitted as well as full information about how informed consent will be ensured and documented (which can be included in your Checklist).
- Additional information about the proposed research as necessary (e.g. a list of questions may be needed in case of interviews about sensitive matters.
DPP ERC currently has three members: Daniel Large (member), Simon Rippon (member), Florian Weiler (chair).