Applications

Has the flowchart (or secretary) indicated that your intended research project needs to be reviewed by the Ethics Committee? Then please follow the steps below:
If, on the basis of the , your research needs to be presented to the Ethics Committee, you are required to take the following steps:

Write a data management plan (DMP). If you are a PhD candidate, or doing grant-funded research, this has likely already been asked of you. A DMP is used, among other reasons, to plan and document decisions and safety measures regarding your research data. Contact a Data Steward at your faculty (researchsupport @ hum or arch .leidenuniv.nl) for help and advice. Plan ahead and start early: at least six weeks before the application deadline (the first day of the month).

Fill out a PrivacyQuickScan. Are you planning to process personal data? The quickscan is a way for the Privacy Officer to do a rapid risk assessment and determine whether a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) is (legally) required. Contact the Privacy Officer (privacy@BB.leidenuniv.nl) at least four weeks before the deadline: send them your quickscan and your DMP, and if applicable, your consent form and information sheet, which they will also give you feedback on.

Fill out the application form for the Ethics Committee. Once the Data Steward and the Privacy Officer have given you the green light, you can send your application form and all relevant documentation (DMP, information and consent forms, etc.) to the Ethics Committee (ethics@hum.leidenuniv.nl). Only complete applications will be taken into consideration; additional documents such as research proposals will not be read.

What’s next

Applications received by or on the first day of the month will be reviewed at the next upcoming meeting of the Ethics Committee, which is usually held sometime during the second week of the month. The EC comprises eight members, divided into two chambers meeting in alternating months; your application will therefore be reviewed by four scholars. The secretary will contact you after the meeting, with one of three possible outcomes:

1. Your application was good! The committee might have some minor clarifying questions or feedback, but offer these alongside their approval. You receive your letter of approval straightaway.
2. Your application was alright, but the EC would like to see your response to their comments and suggestions before granting approval. You can usually respond to this feedback by email, though the secretary might ask you to send in revised documentation. Responses/revisions are evaluated by the secretary and the committee Chair on a rolling basis; if yours are found to be satisfactory, the Chair grants approval and the secretary sends you your letter of approval.
3. Your application was not acceptable: it was incomplete, incoherent, or gave cause for concern that you may not be sufficiently aware of the ethical risks in your research project. You will receive an explanation why your application was rejected, and be asked to write a new application. In case of major concerns and great urgency (e.g., because you are about to start fieldwork) the EC can inform the Research and/or Scientific Director of your institute.

Deadlines

The application deadline for the Ethics Committee is generally the first day of the month (with the exception of July and August: the committee does not meet in those months). When the deadline falls on a weekend, a strike in the higher education sector, or a mandatory holiday, the deadline is moved to the next workday.

The committee usually meets sometime during the second week of the month. You can expect to hear back from the secretary within 3-5 working days.

Short procedure

Proposed research that has already been reviewed and approved by a different Ethics Committee usually does not have to be reviewed anew. Please submit the letter of approval and, preferably, also the review documentation to the Ethics Committee for acceptance.

If the proposed research closely resembles a project that has been reviewed and approved by this EC before, please submit that project’s application along with a short (max. 500 words) summary of the differences between it and your proposed research.

Research projects funded by the European Research Council have often already been thoroughly evaluated on their ethical aspects during the grant proposal assessment process. Please contact the secretary in order to discuss whether additional review from the EC would be appropriate.

Short procedures are reviewed on a rolling basis by the secretary and the Chair of the committee, and are not included in the monthly meeting cycle.