In the HECS Division we have a delegated ethics committee and you should apply for approval of your study via this committee.
The HECS Ethics Committee follows University of Waikato regulations and guidelines:
Ethical Conduct in Human Research and Related Activities Regulations
- Appendix 1: Guidelines for Professional Practice and Community Conduct
- Appendix 2: University Delegated Ethics Committees
- Appendix 3: Suggested Application Format - see FCMS process below.
- Appendix 4: Intellectual Property in Research
- Appendix 5: Guidelines for Observation and Research in Schools and Early Childhood Services (under review)
- Appendix 6: Referring Human Ethics Applications to a Health and Disability Committee (under review)
The School has instituted a short-form preliminary application process, which for standard procedures will often be sufficient to gain ethical approval. The Preliminary Ethics Application form is a fillable PDF, which should be downloaded and then completed using appropriate PDF-handling software. This form should then be emailed to:
In almost all cases it will be appropriate to include the Research Consent/Participant information Form with this preliminary application. You should expect an initial response to your on-line pre-application within 7 days.
The response to your application will be either (a) approval to proceed, (b) a request for additional information, or (c) a requirement to complete a full application as follows.
Your full application should have these components:
A Cover Sheet - for applications with several investigators list additional names and contact details on a separate of paper
A Project Details form
A Research Consent/Participant Information form (if applicable)
Your application should be clear about how participants give informed consent for their participation in your study. Any proposed incentives for participants should be clearly described and justified; in practice most studies can be performed without explicit incentives.
If you have any questions, please contact one of the SCMS members of the HECS Committee.
Professor, Research Associate
Senior Lecturer, Programme Lead