All University research must undergo ethical scrutiny to ensure that it is conducted to the highest ethical standards and to protect the integrity of our research.  Maintaining the highest standards of integrity, impartiality and respect for data is essential.

Training

All postgraduate researchers must complete online research ethics training as a mandatory part of their initial training and development.

You will need to register for an account with Epigeum using your SHU email address – details of how to do this can be found on the Epigeum instructions page

All postgraduate researchers must complete the online training programmes ‘Becoming an ethical researcher’ and ‘Research ethics in practice’.  These programmes can be found within the Ethical Research section on the Epigeum site.  Each programme has 4 modules and you can complete the programmes one module at a time.  If your research involves human participants you should complete both programmes in their entirety (this will take approximately 3 hours 45 minutes).  If you are not researching with human participants, the ‘Working with human participants’ and ‘Working ethically in a global environment’ modules are optional.

When you have successfully completed a module, the system will generate a certificate.  The pass mark is 80% and you should attach all 6-8 certificates to your RF1 as a combined PDF file.

Ethics approval process

You must also complete an ethics proforma which will be authorised by your Director of Studies and formally approved by the University.  If your research involves human participants, human tissue or personal data you will need to complete additional steps and your study may require formal ethics review from the University before you can proceed.  The necessary research ethics approval must be obtained before you start your research.

The ethical review process uses the online system Converis.  You can find more information on the system and the University’s ethics policies, procedures and guidance via the University Ethics web page

Please refer to the Ethics Review System user guide for guidance on how to use the system.  Any system queries should be submitted to converis@shu.ac.uk.

The contacts for Ethics for each Research Institute can be found on the Ethics Contacts Page