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Forms, guidelines & policies

UOW and External Entities Forms

Examples of appropriate Participant Information Sheet (PIS) and Consent Form documents are available here on our UOW Guidelines on Ethical Research page. Checklist guides for what to include in your PIS and Consent Form are also available at the link above, however no ‘template’ exists – they are different for every study.

IRMA

UOW Policies and Procedure

Human Research Ethics Complaints

If you have participated in research at the University of Wollongong, or you are an otherwise interested party, and you have concerns about the conduct of the research please notify the Ethics Officer in writing as outlined below.

Submitting a Complaint

To help us address your concerns effectively, please include as many details as possible, such as:

  • The reference number and title of the project
  • The names of any researchers involved
  • The nature of your dissatisfaction with the project

* The reference number, title, and names of the researchers should be in the Participant Information Sheet that you received before consenting to participate in the research

Please also indicate:

  • If you consent to us sharing the information you provide with the researcher(s) concerned, and if so, whether you are comfortable being identified
  • If you would like us to follow up with you regarding your complaint
  • Any specific actions you are requesting in response to your complaint

The Ethics Officer will acknowledge receipt of the complaint as soon as possible. The complaint will be forwarded to the relevant Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) Chair for review.

Review by the Committee Chair

The complaint will be reviewed by the relevant Committee Chair, who may take the following actions based on the information received:

  • Inform the researcher and/or the supervisor of the complaint and request further information
  • Request evidence that the research is being conducted according to HREC approval terms
  • Suspend HREC approval while investigating the matter
  • Place conditions on the continued conduct of the research
  • Advise the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research & Sustainable Futures) of the complaint
  • Recommend further investigation by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research & Sustainable Futures) or delegate
  • Revoke approval for the research
  • Require that research data be provided to the Ethics Officer for secure storage

Escalation

If necessary, the matter will be escalated to the Dean, Research Integrity Development & Ethics.

Reporting and Review

A report on the complaint and its resolution will be made to the HREC.

Scope of Complaints

Complaints may address:

  • Participation in, or recruitment for, a research activity
  • Research activities not compliant with the approved protocol
  • Research activities requiring ethics approval for which approval is not known to exist
  • Misuse of data
  • Breach of privacy or confidentiality

The decision regarding the ethical acceptability of human research must be made by a duly constituted HREC in accordance with the National Statement and cannot be overridden by the University.

If you wish to make a complaint about HREC processes for review and approval, please also submit your complaint in writing to the Ethics Officer.

Breaches of the Research Code

Complaints suggesting a breach of the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research will be managed according to the UOW Managing and Investigating Potential Breaches of the Research Code Policy and Procedure.

For further assistance or to submit a complaint, please contact the Ethics Officer at uow-humanethics@uow.edu.au.

Fees

No fees are charged for the review of standard applications involving UOW. The HREC charges fees for the review of research by external parties and clinical trials in accordance with NSW Ministry of Health Policy.  The details of who to invoice for the review should be included in the application.

The fees contribute to the cost of the administration of the HREC, defrayment of costs incurred by non-institutional Committee members in participating in the HREC, and towards the cost of training the members of the HREC.

Fees by application type

Application type 2024 Fee 2025 Fee
Application for clinical trial with full industry sponsorship $3300 $3500
Application for clinical trial with sponsorship from collaborative groups $150 $300
Amendments to trials with full industry sponsorship* $550 $1000
Addition of sub-studies to trials with full industry sponsorship^ $1665 $2000
Application for research for private or commercial purposes $950 $1500

* Amendments include any changes to the protocol excluding minor administrative changes. 

^ Sub-studies will be reviewed and the fee determined on a case-by-case basis. The HREC may request that the sub-study be submitted as a new application and charge the full fee.

UOW Research Integrity related policies, procedures and guidelines for staff and students

(A full list of research related policies, procedures and guidelines can be found in the policy directory.) 

UOW Research Integrity related forms

External regulations, guidelines and policies

Global guides for use in the development of national policy for the responsible conduct of research:

Other UOW Research Integrity Resources and Links

UOW AEC Animal Research and Teaching applications

UOW AEC forms

UOW AEC Policy and guidelines

*Documents to be uploaded soon. If you need access to these asap please email

External Regulations, guidelines and policy

UOW resources and links

Animal Research Authority (ARA)

All research involving animals requires an Animal Research Authority to be issued by the Animal Ethics Committee. Conducting any activities for the purpose of research, training or teaching without first applying for and receiving an ARA is a breach of the Australian Code for the Care and Use of Animal for Scientific purposes as well as the NSW Animal Research Act.

How to apply for an animal research authority (ARA)

The process of preparing a submission to the AEC to gain approval for research or teaching activities that involve animals can be quite a daunting and time consuming task. Completing your UoW new researcher , refresher, or supervisor  training prior to completing the application will ensure that you have the skills available to complete the application as per the UoW AEC requirements.  Please visit the training page for information on how to access this training.

Overview of the AEC application process

Making changes to your project after approval – The amendment process

From time to time it may be necessary for you to make changes to your project after it has been approved. This could range from simple things like adding or removing investigators to more complex things like adding procedures, changing location,  requesting additional animals, changing dose rates or methods of administration of substances.

It is important to understand that ALL changes to a project MUST be approved by the AEC prior the the changes being implemented. Failure to do so puts you in breach of your animal ethics approval and could result in withdrawal of your project approval or in some cases criminal charges.

An overview of the Amendment process is available here

Unexpected and adverse events

Occasionally things don’t go as planned when you are undertaking your research project. This could be due to factors outside your control such as storms, fires etc or failure of power supply to vital equipment that has an impact on the welfare of your research animals. It could also involve injury or death of animals.  In all cases where something unexpected happens that has an adverse impact on the welfare of research animals formal notification is required. In the first instance the animal welfare officer must be notified immediately, followed by an email to the animal ethics officer uow-animalethics@uow.edu.au within 48 hours and a written report within 10 days of the incident. These written reports are circulated to the AEC members. Depending on the cause and severity of the incident projects may continue, be temporarily suspended whilst an investigation is undertaken, modified to prevent further incident or cancelled.

Annual reporting requirements

All approved animal research projects are required to submit an annual progress report to the UoW Animal ethics committee. The annual progress report provides the AEC with information about the progress of the project throughout the calendar year, summarises any unexpected or adverse events,  and reports on any amendments or refinements made to the project.  In addition the annual and cumulative animal numbers are reported in the annual report. These numbers , along with other information are submitted to the DPI in the University report to the Department of Primary Industries in March each year.  Annual reports are due in mid January each year and report on the previous calendar year. When Annual reports are submitted they are reviewed by the research service office to ensure accuracy and completion prior to be placed on the AEC agenda. Once approved by the AEC a new Animal Research Authority (ARA) is issued. If the AEC is unhappy with the progress of the project or contents of the report the ARA may be delayed and research may not be conducted until any issues are resolved and a new ARA issued.

These change from year to year and are generally updated in Sept/October each year.

External resources & links

UOW Institutional Biosafety Committee Applications

To notify or apply for approval from the IBC for work with a biological matter, applications are now submitted online at:

Exempt Dealing  

Information on what constitutes a NLRD (Notifiable Low Risk Dealing)

Licenced Dealing

Making changes to a Protocol

Annual and Final Report

External Research Grants Submission Form

Approval is required for all UOW and affiliated staff seeking funding from an external agency.

The completed “External Research Grant Submission Form” MUST be signed by all investigators and submitted with a copy of the grant guidelines and draft application to the appropriate Head of School for approval. Once the Head of School has approved, that approval email, grant guidelines and draft application is to be submitted for Associate Dean (Research) approval via research-operations@uow.edu.au. Once all approvals from appropriate delegates have been obtained this form and relevant documentation will be submitted to the Research Grants Team via research-grants@uow.edu.au

Completion of this process will ensure that applicants undertaking such research are covered by the appropriate insurances and indemnities.

This form must be completed for all research proposals for external funding, including applications being submitted through other institutions, that is, where UOW is not the lead institution.

Please Note: unless otherwise specified, external grant applications should be submitted for approval at least four weeks prior to the external closing date for applications. All approvals are to be obtained two weeks prior to the external closing date for applications.

Questions on external research grants can be directed to research-grants@uow.edu.au

Questions on Faculty approvals can be directed to research-operations@uow.edu.au

Funding codes

Please note that the codes (FoR, SEO and ToA) have been revised, for further information see transitioning to the new codes.

When completing your funding application you may be requested to nominate Field of Research (FoR) codes and Socio-economic Objective Classification (SEO) codes to categorise your research. These codes are used in official statistics to analyse the nature of R&D undertaken in Australia. The classifications are used in conjunction with industrial and institutional sector classifications to produce a set of official statistics which support a variety of user interests.

Field of Research (FoR)

This classification allows both R&D activity and other activity within the higher education sector to be categorised. It allows R&D activity to be categorised according to the field of research undertaken. In this respect, it is the nature of the R&D which is being examined.

Socio-economic Objective Classification (SEO)

This classification allows R&D to be categorised according to the purpose of the R&D as perceived by the data provider (researcher). It consists of discrete economic, social, technological or scientific domains for identifying the principal purpose of the R&D. The attributes applied to the design of the SEO Classification comprise a combination of processes, products, health, education and other social and environmental aspects of particular interest.

New FOR and SEO codes can be found here

UOW Research Co-Investment Guidelines

Research Co-Investment is the practice of providing guaranteed cash contributions from the annual UOW Research Block Grant (RBG) to support proposals to competitive external research grant funding schemes. Cash Co-Investments can support a range of research activities, most commonly project costs, research personnel salaries, fellowship salary shortfalls, HDR scholarships, and equipment costs.

UOW has recently introduced a set of Research Co-Investment Guidelines which provide a consistent, equitable, transparent and efficient approach for decision making and communication regarding Co-Investment. The Guidelines support decision makers to balance strategic grant support with other demands on the RBG income stream to determine the best investment of UOW’s RBG income.

The following types of external grant and fellowship applications are covered under the Guidelines:

  • Major research investments
  • Fellowship schemes incurring salary shortfalls
  • Equipment and infrastructure grant schemes
  • Significant project grant schemes and project costs support for fellowship schemes
  • Other strategically important funding bids

UOW’s capacity to approve Co-Investment requests, and the amount of support available, will vary year by year based on annual RBG income earned, as well as existing commitments and other strategic demands on RBG funding

Full details of Co-Investment limits and calculations for each eligible category of external grant or fellowship are provided in the Appendices to the Guidelines, and will be reviewed annually and adjusted where required.

Scheme timeline Request due to Co-Investment Delegate Outcome expected
All recurring schemes (e.g. ARC and NHMRC annual rounds) By the advertised NOTICE OF INTENT DUE DATE (generally no less than THREE MONTHS prior to the external funding agency deadline), to allow a timely and well-considered response. No less than ONE MONTH prior to the scheme deadline, to allow timely development of the grant proposal and budget.
One-off schemes and/or schemes with short external funding agency timelines No less than FOUR WEEKS prior to the scheme deadline (or as soon as possible for schemes with short timelines).Except where scheme timelines are too short, requests for Centrally-funded Co-Investment received less than four weeks from the external deadline are very unlikely to be considered. No less than TWO WEEKS prior to the scheme deadline.

UOW Research Co-Investment Guidelines (PDF)

CO-INVESTMENT REQUEST FORM (MAJOR RESEARCH INITIATIVES ONLY) (.doc)

Infrastructure Levy

For grants from funding bodies that are not on the Australian Competitive Grants Register, a UOW Infrastructure Levy will apply to the application, as these grants do not attract any government funding for infrastructure.

Levies collected on grants assist faculties to cover infrastructure costs for staff who undertake these projects and contribute to the cost of strategic research development undertaken at an institutional level.

For more information regarding the Infrastructure Levy and requests for amendments or waiver, contact your Faculty Research Manager.

Policies and guidelines

Forms and resources

External

Internal

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