Research

Find out more about the University of Surrey ethical review criteria.

The University of Surrey is committed to achieving an environment in which researchers have an effective and supportive infrastructure, to ensure best-practice, transparent and ethical research that complies with legal and regulatory requirements. 

The tabs below will provide you with information on how the ethics process works, how to apply for ethics review and documents to support your applications. 

Research ethics
RIGO news

Face to face research

Determine whether your research project requires ethical review through completing the Self-Assessment Governance and Ethics form (SAGE).

During this exceptional time, the RIGO team are working remotely on flexible hours and response times may vary; we thank you for your understanding. The team can still be contacted via the usual email addresses:

If you would like to meet and discuss any matters with the team or the UEC Chair, a Teams meeting can be arranged by contacting the appropriate email above.

Please submit your application to:

Research with humans and/or data (inc. secondary data, engineering projects and physical sciences)

1. Does my research study/project require review?

All members of the University proposing to carry out research involving human participants, human data and/or tissue, or animal research, should assess whether their project requires review by a committee before recruitment or data collection commences.

If you are conducting research with humans or data (including secondary data, sciences projects or engineering projects), you can determine whether your research project requires ethical and/or governance review through completing the Self-Assessment Governance and Ethics form for Humans and Data Research(SAGE-HDR).

SAGE-HDR must be completed by:

  • Staff and visiting researchers
  • Postgraduate research students (PhD, EngD and PsychD)
  • Postgraduate taught students (MSc)
  • Undergraduate students
  • Visitors.

University of Surrey staff, postgraduate research students, postgraduate taught students, undergraduate students or visitors intending to conduct research with humans and/or data must complete the self-assessment form (SAGE-HDR), even for those studies that require external ethical review. SAGE-HDR should also be completed if you intend to make any amendments/changes to a research study that has previously received a favourable ethical opinion.

2. What should I do with my SAGE-HDR form?

  • Complete the questions on SAGE. If you are a student, you must check with your supervisor that your responses are correct before finishing the form
  • You can navigate forwards and backwards through SAGE-HDR by clicking on the 'Next' and 'Previous' buttons at the bottom of the page
  • You can stop and save your answers by clicking on 'finish later' at the bottom of each page and returning later to complete it. To return and finish completing the form, you will need to return to the web address displayed by the form, which you can either bookmark or request the link to be sent by email
  • If you are a student, DO NOT click on the ‘Finish’ button, until your supervisor has confirmed your responses to the questions are correct. You can do this by, clicking on the ‘finish later’ button at the bottom of the declaration page. Enter your own email address and the weblink will be sent to you by email. You can then forward this link to your supervisor to access your SAGE -HDR form
  • Complete your form by clicking on the ‘Finish’ button. On finishing SAGE-HDR, you can download and save a PDF copy of your final responses by clicking on the 'My response' button. Your responses will be displayed on a new page. Click on 'Download as pdf' link on the top right of the page and save to keep a pdf of your completed SAGE-HDR responses. Instructions on how to do this are also displayed on SAGE-HDR
  • The purpose of completing SAGE-HDR is to help you decide if your research needs ethical and/or governance review by any of the University ethics committees or an external review body such as an NHS Research ethics committee (REC)
  • Your responses in SAGE-HDR will indicate to you whether you need to make an ethics and/or governance application (EGA). Your ethics and/or governance application is the formal submission for review
  • Depending on what you intend to research, your project may not require a review. SAGE-HDR will inform you of whether you do or do not require a review. If you do not require a review, you can begin your research immediately ensuing you adhere to the University’s Code on Good Research Practice
  • If you need any help or have any questions about SAGE please contact your Faculty ethics administrators:​​

3. SAGE has directed me to make an ethics and governance application (EGA). How do I do this?

If the self-assessment form (SAGE-HDR) indicates that your research requires ethical and/or governance review by the University of Surrey, you will need to complete an ethics and/or governance application form and prepare a set of study documents.

Please ensure you have attached all participant facing documents and any other documents that may have been identified in SAGE-HDR, with your ethics and governance application form. Please keep all of your documents separate as each will be reviewed individually, and ensure they have a version and date on them.

This may include:

  • PDF copy of your SAGE form
  • Ethics and Governance Application (EGA) form. Please note, projects that require either governance-only review or an ethics and governance review will both complete the same EGA form
  • Study protocol
  • Participant information sheet
  • Consent form
  • Recruitment material (posters, email circulars, social media posts etc)
  • Questionnaires
  • Interview/forum guide sheet
  • Data management plan
  • Risk assessment
  • Translations of non-English participant facing documents
  • Human Tissue Governance Application form.

Please submit your EGA and accompanying study documents to your own faculty using the following email addresses:

If you are not based in a University Faculty (e.g. you belong to a professional service department), please submit your documentation to: ethics@surrey.ac.uk.

4. SAGE-HDR has directed me to make a Notification of Amendment. How do I do this?

If you need to make any changes to a research project that has previously been given a favourable ethical opinion you will need to complete a notification of amendment form. You must make clear on the form the changes you intend to make and provide a reason for each change.

Any documents (e.g. Participant information sheet) that may need updating due to the intended changes will also require review. These changed documents should be submitted with the changes clearly identified by highlighting and strikethrough functions. All new documents should be given a new version number/date.

Please submit your notification of amendment form and accompanying study documents to your own faculty using the following email addresses:

If you are not based in a University Faculty (e.g. you belong to a professional service department), please submit your documentation to: ethics@surrey.ac.uk.

5. Templates and guidance documents

Please note that this section will be continually updated as new documents become available.

Guidance for restarting face-to-face research
Ethics and governance application (EGA) form
Basic protocol template
Guidance for information sheets
Generic information sheet template
Generic consent form template
Guidance on notification of amendment form
Notification of amendment form
Data protection and security for UG and PGT students projects

The Ethics Guide - guide for research and teaching using human or animal subjects, their tissue or data.

6. What happens once I have submitted an Ethics and/or Governance Application (EGA) or a Notification of Amendment form?

6.1 Basic document check

Once you have submitted your application form to the Faculty administrator via the Faculty ethics mailbox, a basic document check will take place. These checks will include:

  • Ensuring the EGA and SAGE-HDR forms have been fully completed
  • Checking email addresses are valid
  • For student projects, that the supervisor’s details have been provided and that they have signed the EGA
  • Titles across documents are consistent
  • Version numbers/dates have been used
  • University logo and contact details are provided.

If the documents are not clear, the faculty administrator will contact you for clarification.

Only when all the documents are valid will the project progress to ethics and governance review.

6.2 Ethics and/or governance review

Once the basic document check has been completed, the faculty administrator will notify the RIGO team. The RIGO team will then begin the ethics and/or governance review process. An EGA number will be allocated to your application and you (and your supervisor, if you are a student) will receive an email confirmation that your application has been received for review. You should use this EGA number in all correspondence.

6.2.1 Ethics review (if required)

The RIGO co-ordinators will use your responses in the SAGE form to identify which review panel your application should be allocated to, this will follow a risk-based approach.

6.2.2 Governance review

The RIGO co-ordinators will allocate your application to a member of the RIGO team to perform a governance check. This will happen in parallel to the ethics review (if required). The governance checks will include checking:

  • The management of personal data is in accordance with data protection legislation
  • Any aspects requiring referral to insurance (e.g. for international research)
  • Human tissue research requirements
  • Whether gatekeeper approvals are required
  • The role of collaborators or third parties involved in the research
  • Risk assessments are in place (e.g. for travel overseas, lone working etc)
  • Whether research falls under a national governance framework review process (e.g. NHS research ethics committee (REC)
  • That the research is being conducted in accordance with legal and regulatory requirements.

6.3 Queries letter

On reviewing your application, there may be concerns regarding the research or clarifications required. If this happens, you will receive a queries letter via email setting out the points that you must respond to.

You must respond to the queries letter within 10 working days. If no response is received within this time, it will be assumed that the project is no longer progressing, and the application will be archived. If you require longer than 10 working days, please email ethics@surrey.ac.uk for an extension. You will need to submit a new application if you decide to respond at a later date.

You must submit your response to the queries via your own faculty using the following email addresses:

If you are not based in a University Faculty (e.g. you belong to a professional service department), please submit your documentation to: ethics@surrey.ac.uk.

This process can take several rounds until all queries are resolved satisfactorily. If any queries are unclear or if you would like to discuss them in person, a meeting with the reviewers can be arranged. If you would like to do this, you will need to email the Faculty ethics mailbox and a member of the RIGO team will contact you to arrange this.

6.4 Favourable ethical opinion (FEO) and governance approval to commence

When the reviewers are satisfied that all ethics and governance queries have been addressed satisfactorily, a letter will be issued by RIGO providing you with favourable ethical opinion and confirmation that all governance checks have taken place. You can then commence your research.

7.0 Queries

Please email ethics@surrey.ac.uk with any queries you have about the ethics and governance review process. Any feedback or concerns will be directed to the Chair of the University Ethics Committee and/or the Head of Research Integrity and Governance Office.

8.0 Audit

Your research may be selected for audit after a favourable ethical opinion has been issued. The University Ethics Committee's statement on the 2018 audit is below:

Statement about the UEC 2018 audit

9.0 Privacy notice for researchers applying for review by the University Ethics Committee

Further information on how the data you provide in your application to the UEC is used can be found in our privacy notice.

UEC applicant privacy notice
Research with animals

1. Does my research study/project require ethical review?

All members of the University proposing to carry out research involving animals, their data and/or tissue, or animal research, should assess whether their project requires review by an ethics committee before recruitment or data collection commences.

You can determine whether your research project requires ethical review for the animal research component of your study by completing the Self-Assessment Governance and Ethics – Animal Research form (SAGE - AR).

SAGE-AR must be completed by:

  • Staff and visiting researchers
  • Postgraduate research students (PhD, PsychD and EngD)
  • Postgraduate taught students (MSc)
  • Undergraduate students.

intending to conduct animal research even for those studies that require external ethical review.

SAGE-AR should also be completed if you intend to make any amendments/changes to a research study that has previously received a favourable ethical opinion

Your responses to SAGE-AR will advise you as to whether further ethical review is required or whether you need to make an application for ethical review by an animal research ethics committee. These committees are:

A. Animal Welfare and Ethical Review Body (AWERB)

The function of the AWERB is to advise and promote the full implementation of the 3Rs, especially in safeguarding the welfare of animals and reviewing harms and benefits of the research. In addition, the AWERB also advises the Establishment Licence Holder on whether or not to submit research projects to the Secretary of State. For more details please see our animal research information or contact AWERB@surrey.ac.uk

B. Non-Establishment Ethical Review (NEER)

The NEER sub-committee of the AWERB advises on, and caries out local reviews of projects in which University of Surrey staff participates, but the activities that involve animals are not undertaken at the University of Surrey. This includes (inter)national activities involving animal research that - if performed in the UK - would fall under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act (ASPA) 1986. For more information please contact NEER@surrey.ac.uk

C. Non-Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (NASPA)

The NASPA Sub-Committee (NASPA) advises on and carries out the ethical review of activities involving animals, which fall outside the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 as amended in 2012 A(SP)A. NASPA is a sub-committee of the Animal Welfare and Ethical Review Body (AWERB). For more details please contact naspa@surrey.ac.uk.

2. What should I do with my SAGE-AR form?

  • Complete the questions on SAGE-AR. If you are a student, you must check with your supervisor that your responses are correct before submitting the form
  • You can navigate forwards and backwards through SAGE-AR by clicking on the 'Next' and 'Previous' buttons at the bottom of the page
  • You can stop and save your answers by clicking on 'finish later' at the bottom of each page and returning later to complete it. To return and finish completing the form, you will need to return to the web address displayed by the form, which you can either bookmark or request the link to be sent by email
  • If you are a student, DO NOT click on the ‘Finish’ button, until your supervisor has confirmed your responses to the questions are correct. You can do this by, clicking on the ‘finish later’ button at the bottom of the declaration page. Enter your own email address and the weblink will be sent to you by email. You can then forward this link to your supervisor to access your SAGE-AR form
  • Complete your form by clicking on the ‘Finish’ button. On finishing SAGE-AR, you can download and save a PDF copy of your final responses by clicking on the 'My response' button. Your responses will be displayed on a new page. Click on 'Download as pdf' link on the top right of the page and save to keep a pdf of your completed SAGE-AR responses. Instructions on how to do this are also displayed on SAGE-AR
  • The purpose of completing SAGE-AR is to help you decide if your research needs ethical review by any of the University ethics committees or an external review body such as an NHS Research ethics committee (REC). It will also tell you if you need to do anything else for governance checks such as submitting a data management plan before you can commence your research
  • Your responses in SAGE-AR will indicate to you whether you need to make an application to AWERB, NEER or NASPA
  • If you need any help or have any questions about SAGE-AR please contact the relevant ethics review body that you have been directed to:

3. SAGE-AR has directed me to make a NASPA application for full ethical review. How do I do this?

If the self-assessment form (SAGE-AR) indicates that your research requires ethical and/or governance review by NASPA, you will need to complete a NASPA application form and prepare a set of study documents.

Please ensure you have attached all participant facing documents and any other documents that may have been identified in SAGE-AR, with your NASPA application form. This may include:

  • PDF copy of your SAGE-AR form

  • NASPA Application form which includes a study protocol
  • Participant / owner information sheet - (see guidance for restarting face-to-face research and the NASPA Participant/Owner Information Sheet Template). The information sheet should be clear and concise, avoiding technical terms and acronyms that will be unfamiliar to owners. The information should be organised under headings.

  • Consent Form - (see NASPA Generic Consent Form template). Consent must be taken from the animal’s legal owner or authorised agent of the legal owner. A MRCVS should refer to section 11 of the RCVS Code of Professional Conduct for Veterinary Surgeons: Supporting Guidance if they require more information.

    Where animals are being brought onto University premises, researchers should observe all local procedures in relation to their management. This means that owners bringing animals onto University premises will need to complete the School of Veterinary Medicine’s standard consent form as well.

    Owners should usually be presented with a separate study specific information sheet and consent form, prior to giving written consent. Potential participants should be given adequate time to consider taking part in the research. This usually means there should be at least 24h between reading the information sheet and giving consent.

    It is important that the statements on the consent form are consistent with what is stated in the corresponding information sheet.

  • Recruitment material - (posters, email circulars, social media posts etc)
  • Questionnaires
  • Interview/forum guide sheet
  • Data Management Plan
  • Risk Assessment
  • Translations of non-English participant facing documents.

Please submit your NASPA application form and accompanying study documents to NASPA at naspa@surrey.ac.uk.

4. SAGE-AR has directed me to make a Notification of Amendment to a NASPA Application that has received a favourable ethical opinion (FEO). How do I do this?

If you need to make any changes to a research project that has previously been given a FEO you will need to complete a notification of amendment form. You must make clear on the form the changes you intend to make and provide a reason for each change.

Any documents (e.g. Participant information sheet) that may need updating due to the intended changes will also require review. These changed documents should be submitted with the changes clearly identified by highlighting and strikethrough functions. All new documents should be given a new version number/date.

Please submit your notification of amendment form and accompanying study documents to naspa@surrey.ac.uk.

5. Templates and guidance documents

Please note that this section will be continually updated as new documents become available.

Guidance for restarting face-to-face research
NASPA application form
Notification of amendment NASPA form
Guidance for information sheets
NASPA generic owner/participant information sheet
NASPA generic consent form
Risk assessment information
Data protection and security for UG and PGT students projects

6. What happens once I have submitted NASPA application form or a Notification of Amendment form?

6.1 Basic document check

Once you have submitted your application form to NASPA, a basic document check will take place. These checks will include:

  • Ensuring the NASPA and SAGE-AR forms have been fully completed
  • Checking email addresses are valid
  • For student projects, that the supervisor’s details have been provided and that they have signed the NASPA application form,
  • Titles across documents are consistent,
  • Version numbers/dates have been used
  • University logo and contact details are provided.

If the documents are not clear, the NASPA administrator will contact you for clarification.

Only when all the documents are valid will the project progress to ethics and governance review.

6.2 Ethics and governance review

Once the basic document check has been completed, the NASPA administrator will begin the ethics and governance review process. A NASPA number will be allocated to your application and you (and your supervisor, if you are a student) will receive an email confirmation that your application has been received for review. You should use this NASPA number in all correspondence.

6.2.1 Ethics review

NASPA Committee members will review the ethics of the study. It may be that a SAGE-HR form may also need to be completed or a member of a human ethics committee member may need oversight of the application.

6.2.2 Governance review

Governance checks will include checking:

  • The management of personal data is in accordance with data protection legislation
  • Any aspects requiring referral to insurance (e.g. for international research), whether gatekeeper approvals are required
  • The role of collaborators or third parties involved in the research
  • Risk assessments are in place (e.g. for travel overseas, lone working etc)
  • That the research is being conducted in accordance with legal and regulatory requirements.

6.2.3 Example documents from a completed NASPA application

The following documents are from a example submission:

Example - NASPA application form
Example - NASPA application signature page
Example - flyer
Example - risk assessment
Example - recruitment material for online forums
Example - participant information sheet
Example - questionnaire
Example - sample submission form
Example - instructions for collecting camelid faeces
Example - consent form

6.3 Queries letter

On reviewing your application, there may be concerns regarding the research or clarifications required. If this happens, you will receive a queries letter via email setting out the points that you must respond to.

You must respond to the queries letter within 3 months. If no response is received within this time, it will be assumed that the project is no longer progressing, and the application will be archived. You will need to submit a new application if you decide to respond at a later date.

You must submit your response to the queries to NASPA at naspa@surrey.ac.uk.

This process can take several rounds until all queries are resolved satisfactorily. If any queries are unclear or if you would like to discuss them in person, a meeting with the reviewers can be arranged. If you would like to do this, you will need to email NASPA and a to arrange this meeting.

6.4 Favourable ethical opinion (FEO) and governance approval to commence

When the reviewers are satisfied that all ethics and governance queries have been addressed satisfactorily, a letter will be issued by NASPA providing you with favourable ethical opinion and confirmation that all governance checks have taken place. You can then commence your research.

7.0 Queries

Please email ethics@surrey.ac.uk with any queries you have about the ethics and governance review process. Any feedback or concerns will be directed to the Chair of NASPA and AWERB and/or the Head of Research Integrity and Governance Office.

8.0 Audit

Your research may be selected for audit after a favourable ethical opinion has been issued.

NHS and sponsorship

Applying to the NHS and sponsorship

Applications for NHS review must be made through the Integrated Research Application System (IRAS). All applications must be countersigned by a representative of the institution supporting (sponsoring) the study – at the University of Surrey this is a staff member in RIGO.

Researchers with a proposal involving the NHS must approach RIGO at rigo@surrey.ac.uk for confirmation of the approvals required.

This should take place before submission to any NHS body (including a Research Ethics Committee and/or Research and Development), University ethics committee and/or the commencement of any recruitment.

Further details can be found in the sponsorship flow chart.

Please see below the RIGO Sponsor process guidance along with NHS templates and guidance for protocols, informed consent forms and participant information sheets.

Student COVID update for NHS REC and HRA applications

The NHS REC and HRA currently have some restrictions on what students can apply for approval due to capacity issues caused by the Covid-19 virus. PhD and PsychD students can submit applications as usually, however restrictions apply to UG and Masters level students. The conditions are detailed on Student research - Health Research Authority (hra.nhs.uk) and the HRA have developed a Student Toolkit to assess whether you are eligible to submit a HRA and/or NHS REC application. Please complete this toolkit in the first instance and get in contact with RIGO@surrey.ac.uk with the outcome to discuss your project.

If the outcome of the student toolkit is that you are unable to submit to the HRA or NHS REC, then you will not be able to conduct your research if you are planning research with NHS patients, use NHS patient data, NHS staff or be on NHS property. If you contact rigo@surrey.ac.uk, we will provide advice on adapting or changing your project so that it will not require NHS REC or HRA review.

RIGO sponsor process
Defining research
NHS protocol template
NHS information sheet guidance
NHS patient/participant information sheet template
NHS informed consent form template
Serious Adverse Event (non-CTIMP) report form
Human tissue research

The University of Surrey (the University) supports research involving the use of human tissue samples and provides an internal governance framework to ensure researchers conduct their work in accordance with legislative and ethical standards. This includes a quality manual and a set of standard operating procedures (SOPs) which can be found under the subsequent tab. Researchers must refer to the quality manual and SOPs for details of what is in scope and what procedures must be followed.

All individuals, whether staff, student or visitor, conducting research with human samples under the auspices of the University of Surrey on or off site must attend mandatory training before they acquire or begin work with human tissue samples.

HT training sessions are held online on the last Thursday of each month at 2:30pm. To register for training, or arrange an alternative 1:1 session, please contact rigo@surrey.ac.uk.

Human tissue SOPs and templates

Quality Manual and SOPs that must be read, understood and followed by researchers:

UOS_HT_SOP_01 - Quality Manual for Using Human Tissue in Research
UOS_HT_SOP_02 - Applying to use Human Tissue in Research
UOS_HT_SOP_03 - Training requirements for using human tissue
UOS_HT_SOP_04 - Internal audit of HTA licensable activities
UOS_HT_SOP_05 - Consent and withdrawal for using human tissue
UOS_HT_SOP_06 - Collection of Human Tissue from Participants
UOS_HT_SOP_07 - Transfer of human tissue samples into and out of the University
UOS_HT_SOP_08 - Transportation of Human Tissue
UOS_HT_SOP_09 - Human Tissue Records Management
UOS_HT_SOP_10 - Human Tissue sample labelling, storage and tracking
UOS_HT_SOP_11 - Adverse Event and Incident Reporting
UOS_HT_SOP_12 - Maintenance and Monitoring of Storage Areas
UOS_HT_SOP_13 - Disposal of Human Tissue Samples
UOS_HT_SOP_14 - Continued storage of human tissue following completion of study (non-NHS REC approved)
UOS_HT_SOP_15 – Change control

HTA templates

Human Tissue Governance Application Form v1.2 17Aug23
Sample tracking log 22Aug23
Human Tissue Risk Assessment Form V1.2 22 Aug23
Adverse Event and Incident Report Form v1.1 23Aug23
Report of Serious Adverse Event (non-CTIMP) v1.2 22Aug23
Transfer of human samples from NHS REC approved study to HTA License Application Form v1.2 22Aug23
Internal Audit Report (human Tissue) Forms v1.1 23Aug23

HTA licence details

The University holds a Human Tissue Authority (HTA) license for the ‘storage of relevant material which has come from a human body for use for a scheduled purpose.’

  • License holder: University of Surrey
  • Licensed premises: University of Surrey
  • Designated individual (DI): Professor Paul Townsend (Pro-Vice Chancellor, Executive Dean FHMS)
  • Corporate licence holder contact (CLHc): Matt Purcell (Director of Health and Safety).

If you have any queries regarding human tissue research, including local induction and training, in the first instance please contact the person designate (PD) at the relevant site as listed below:

The Human Tissue Research Operations Group (HTROG) is responsible for overseeing the development and correct implementation of the quality manual for ‘human tissue in research: Acquisition, storage, use and disposal’ and associated standard operating procedures (SOPs).

All human tissue research must make an application via RIGO for review and approval before acquiring any tissue to determine whether they must be held under the HTA License. See the SOP list above for further details on the process.