Research Ethics

Welcome to the Education and Health Sciences Research Ethics Web Page. Research is important.  It is one of the "raison d'etres" of a university.  A university's infrastructure's purpose is to facilitate research, indeed to promote it.  Yet there is also a need to safeguard those who are the subject of such research.

Traditionally, ethical approval of research has been seen as an issue for medical/clinical research.  It is now recognised that the responsibility extends beyond those previous boundaries and applies to all research projects where humans are involved.

The Research Ethics Committee is charged by the University to consider the ethics of proposed research projects which will involve human subjects and to agree or not, as is the case, as to whether the projected research is ethical.

The Research Ethics Committee must be consulted about any research proposals which involve:

• direct experimentation on individuals;
• surveys or questionnaires administered to individuals;
• use of data derived from individual records where individuals might be identified.
• Research on patients (i.e. people who are receiving treatment as a result of illness) is not within the remit of the Committee and should be referred to the Mid-Western Regional Hospital Research Ethics Committee. Documentation within this Web Site should help identify prospective research which should be referred to the University of Limerick Research Ethics Committee.

The aim of our committee is to ensure that research is conducted according to best practice and in accordance with ethical standards in research. Our first priority is to safeguard the health, welfare, dignity and rights of human participants and the researchers undertaking the work in order to minimise risk to these parties as well as the University of Limerick itself. It should be noted that our REC facilitates, not hinders, valuable research and to protect you the researcher from unjustified criticism and/or legal action. We are here to help you so please utilise this committee when planning your research, we prefer to chat with researchers first if you have any questions about the ethical aspects of your work.

The EHS REC is comprised of representatives from all the Schools/ Departments in the faculty, as well as post-graduate representatives, the Chair and administrative support. There is also an external member of the committee with professional experience in a relevant area. Please take note of contact the members of the committee in your school/department with any questions.

Current members of the committee are as follows: