Please address each of the questions on the Application Form.
What are the ethical challenges and implications arising from the proposed research, and how will they be addressed?
Every project will face unique ethical challenges, so please think carefully about ethics in the context of your own research. Further guidance on research ethics is available on our website in the document ‘Research Projects – Ethics (p. 2-8). Please speak with experienced academic colleagues for advice on how to address ethical challenges in the context of your own project.
How will you ensure that the research undergoes appropriate ethical review?
All projects must secure ethical approval from an appropriate institution before research can begin. For example, universities normally require their researchers to submit an application for ethical approval to an Ethics Officer or Research Director, who reviews the research plans to ensure they conform to internationally and locally accepted ethical guidelines. The reviewer can approve the project, or they can require the research team to adopt different ethical practices. In some circumstances where the research raises high-risk ethical issues, it can be referred to a Research Ethics Panel for approval.
You can apply for ethical approval after the project has been awarded funding, if this is in line with your own organisation’s processes, but the process must be completed before the research begins.
In the application form, you must describe how you will ensure that the project undergoes appropriate ethical review. Will you submit an application at your own organisation for ethical approval, and if so, what are the processes? If the project is awarded funding, we will require evidence to confirm that the ethical review processes are appropriate.
If your own organisation does not have processes for ethical approval, you will need to ensure that the project will be able to undergo ethical review at another organisation. Does your project include Co-Investigators or Project Partners? Would it be possible for the project to undergo ethical review at their organisation?
What measures will you take to ensure the safety and wellbeing of project staff, research participants, or any other people involved in or impacted by the project?
Please think carefully about safety and wellbeing in the context of your own project, and please see the Creating Safer Space Safeguarding Policy (available soon on our website) for potential questions and issues to consider. For advice on how to develop fair and equitable research projects and partnerships, please read the Global Code of Conduct for Research in Resource-Poor Settings.