University ethical approval
The University of Manchester considers research projects involving human participants, their tissues and/or data to fall into one of two distinct categories:
- Those requiring formal research ethics approval
- Those qualifying for an ethical exemption
Researchers should use our to determine which of these categories applies to the project they are planning on conducting.
For those projects requiring formal research ethics approval, there are multiple routes available depending on whether the project is being conducted by a member of staff or student, in addition to their affiliation (such as Department, Division or School). Other considerations include risk level, whether the project includes NHS involvement in any capacity or whether any other external approvals are required (from organisations such as the Ministry of Defence (MoD), His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS), Confidentiality Advisory Group or the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.
Internal routes of approval include the following:
- Division/School review: low risk student projects from certain areas only
- Proportionate University Research Ethics Committee (UREC) review: low risk staff or student projects (where the student is not from an area with a local route)
- Full University Research Ethics Committee (UREC) review: high risk staff or student projects.
Some internally approved projects also require you to obtain Health Research Authority (HRA) approval.
More information on the various routes of approval as well as the requirements for each can be found on our .
For those projects that qualify as an ethical exemption, we offer the opportunity for researchers to generate a letter of ethical exemption, which may be useful for future publication. Further information on the requirements of this process can be found on our .