Research Ethics

Any research activity in the areas below conducted by a member of SETU community must receive approval before beginning. The areas of research requiring approval include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. Research involving human participants (examples include research involving interviews, surveys, focus groups, blood tissue or saliva sampling);
2. Research involving live animals;
3. Ionizing radiation;
4. Collection and retention of sensitive or confidential data;
5. Research that involves people’s personal information, rights or freedoms (this includes internet-based research)
6. Children and young people or any vulnerable groups (examples of vulnerable groups might include, but are not limited to: ; prisoners; refugees; those in care; addiction service users; adults with a learning disability or cognitive impairment; individuals with mental illness or other serious illness/life-limiting conditions; individuals with conditions which may have social or legal stigma over researched groups)
7. Research that involves SETU staff or SETU students as research subjects;
8. Research where there may be a potential for subjects to feel under pressure to participate;
9. Research that may involve a risk of harm (physical, social, economic, legal or other) to the researcher;
10. Research which may lead to the disclosure of acts on the part of subjects, either consciously or unconsciously, that are professionally or morally disapproved of or are against the law;
11. Research that involves a potential stress or loss to subjects (psychological, physical, economic, reputational) beyond those of everyday life if the subjects had not participated in the study;
12. Research involving direct observations of people’s activities (either open or covert observation).
13. Research involving human or animal remains, cadavers, tissues, biological fluids, embryos or foetuses;
14. Research involving manipulation or induction of a change in the environment;
15. Research involving secondary use of data (use of data initially collected for another purpose) - health records; employee records; student records; computer listings; banked tissue - if any form of identifier is involved or if private information pertaining to individuals is involved;
16. Research on sensitive topics;
17. Research where a gatekeeper is involved;
18. Research using the internet or social media;
19. Research involving artificial intelligence;
20. Use of financial incentives/inducements;
21. Use of any substance or equipment that may pose an excessive risk to human health.

Each researcher should also note that Garda Vetting clearance may also be required in cases where the research programme will involve placement in health or social care settings.

Researchers and postgraduate research students must complete the SETU Ethical Approval Application Form and submit it along with all other relevant documentation to [email protected].

Application to the SETU Research Ethics Committee for Ethical Exemption of a Research Project, please complete the following form; The SETU Ethical Exemption Application Form must be submitted along with all other relevant documentation to [email protected]

Please see the SETU Research Ethics Committee Operations and Guidance document for guidance on how to complete an application. 

Prior to completing your ethics application form, please review the Policies section of the SETU website.

Click here for further information on completion of Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA). 

The following policies are important to review before completion of your ethics application form: 

SETU Authorship Policy 

SETU Code of Conduct Policy 

SETU Protected Disclosures Policy 

SETU Intellectual Property Policy 

SETU Conflict of Interest Policy 

SETU Data Protection Policy 

SETU Data Governance Policy 

SETU Data Retention Policy 

SETU Research Ethics Committee Operations and Application Guidance Documentation 

SETU Practical Guide to Research Data Management & Data Management Plans (DMPs) 

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

Research Integrity Training – this is mandatory for all applicants to complete this training before completing the research ethics application form. Proof of completion is required for all named on your application form. This training is available on Moodle for Waterford Campus or Blackboard for Carlow Campus. Please click here for further information on this training. 

Research Ethics Training – while this training is not mandatory for you to complete, it is strongly recommended that you complete this prior to completion of your ethics application form. You can access it on Moodle for Waterford Campus (via this link) and on Blackboard (via this link) for Carlow Campus. To access the training on Moodle you will be asked to type in the following enrolment key “seturesearch”.

An email will be circulated to all SETU staff and Research Postgraduate students prior to each meeting. 

Please see below a list of deadline dates for this academic year. Fully completed applications must to be submitted to [email protected] by 12 noon.