Ethics & compliance
The University of Calgary has two research ethics boards, three animal care committees, and a biosafety committee.
All research, funded or unfunded, involving humans, animals, or biohazards must first be reviewed by and receive approval from the appropriate board or committee before research can begin. Access to funds, if applicable, only occurs after all of the required certificates and approvals are in place.
The Tri-Council agreement identifies the roles and responsibilities in the management of federal grants and awards and includes an outline of all compliance certification requirements.
At the University of Calgary, there are two Research Ethics Boards responsible for reviewing research applications involving human participants: The Conjoint Health Research Ethics Board (CHREB) and the Conjoint Faculties Research Ethics Board (CFREB).
Human ethics: Conjoint Faculties Research Ethics Board
CFREB reviews application from researchers affiliated with following faculties: Arts, Education, Engineering, Environmental Design, Haskayne School of Business, Law, Science, Social Work, Veterinary Medicine, Institutes associated with any of these faculties, and Libraries and Cultural Resources
UCARE and Animal Use Protocols
All animal care and use (research, teaching, and testing) must be reviewed and approved by the Animal Care Committee prior to starting a research project.
Human ethics: Conjoint Health Research Ethics Board
CHREB reviews applications from Researchers affiliated with the following faculties: Kinesiology, Cumming School of Medicine, and Nursing.
Biosafety
A Biosafety Permit is required for use and storage of biohazards and is conditional on registration with and approval from the University of Calgary Biosafety Committee.
TCPS2 Core Tutorial
Adhering to the TCPS2 guidelines helps foster a community of conscientious researchers who carry out research in an ethically sound environment and are aware of how to ethically conduct research involving humans.
Radiation safety
There is a registration and inspection process in place to ensure compliance with safety requirements for the radiation emitting devices.
IRISS: Human Ethics and Animal Care Protocols
All applications to the human Research Ethics Boards (CFREB and CHREB), the Animal Care Committees (HSACC, LESACC, and VSACC) are created and submitted via IRISS.
Quality Assurance for Clinical Trials
The Office of the Vice-President (Research) created a new position that provides Quality Assurance (QA) and Regulatory Compliance services for the research community to ensure that all clinical research meets high-quality standards and ICH Guideline for Good Clinical Practice and applicable regulations are followed in the conduct of clinical trials.
The QA and Regulatory Compliance Specialist assesses research quality through Quality Assurance File Reviews, which verify that research studies are conducted and data are generated, documented and recorded in compliance with the study protocol, applicable regulations, standards operating procedures and institutional policies.
Research integrity
University of Calgary researchers are held to the highest standards of conduct and shall strive to follow the best research practices honestly, accountably, openly, and fairly in the search for and in the dissemination of knowledge. In addition, researchers shall follow the requirements of applicable University policies and professional or disciplinary standards and shall comply with applicable laws and regulations.
Researchers must be familiar with the University of Calgary’s Research Integrity Policy and Code of Conduct.
For information on the breach of research integrity, refer to the Investigating a Breach of Research Integrity procedure.
Research Ethics Appeal Board