There shall be a Research Ethics Committee for the University charged with the responsibility of reviewing research proposals for research ethical compliance. The Research Ethics Committee’s mandate will not be restricted to the Uva Wellassa University researchers but will also cover collaborative research with other institutions.
Number of Disciplines
The number of disciplines shall be based on the levels of research activities. All research carried out by the University staff, will also be governed by the local ethical requirements. In the case of a collaborative research project involving one or more foreign institutions, ethical approval shall be sought both from UWU where the research will be carried out and from the Institutional Review Boards (IRB) of the collaborating institutions.
There shall be five main Research Ethics disciplines as follows:
a) Medical Science
b) Environmental Science
c) Animal Science
d) Socio-economic and Humanities Perspectives
e) Psychology
Functions of Research Ethics Committee
The main role of a Research Ethics Committee is to review and approve research proposals and protocols dealing with human and animal participants. The specific functions of the Research Ethics Committee are:
a) Review and approve all research proposals and protocols that deal with human and animal participants;
b) Enforce high ethical standards on research undertaken on human and animal participants;
c) Protect the interests of researchers who are conducting research following the approved protocols/proposals;
d) Monitor the approved research project to ensure ethical compliance;
e) Participate in the training and/or sensitisation of staff and students in research ethics.
Membership of Research Ethics Committee
The membership of the Research Ethics Committee is formed representing the following where Chairperson and the Secretary will be appointed by the Vice Chancellor on the recommendation of the Research Committee for a period of three (03) years;
Chairperson
All Deans/Representatives for the Deans
Research Expertise representing the fields given above
One Senior Academic Staff member representing each Degree Programme
Two (02) Council Members
A Representative/Ministry of Health
A Representative/Ministry of Agriculture
A Representative/Ministry of Livestock Production