Funding and Ethics Approval
Grant administration at the University operates through the coordination of systems between Research Services Office (RSO and Grants 3.0) and Research Ethics Office (REO and ARISE). RSO assists researchers in obtaining funding and provides guidance and financial management of awards. REO assists researchers in ensuring that their research (funded or unfunded) meets the standards for ethical research and complies with institutional, provincial, federal and international guidelines.
Research management policies for all funded research projects at the University of Alberta, regardless of funding source(and administered by the University of Alberta) flow from the Tri-Agency Agreement on the Administration of Agency Grants and Awards by Research Institutions.
The Agreement stipulates that the University must:
- allow access to Grant funds only after the Institution's research ethics board (REB or ACUC), or a board designated by the institution, has approved the research project, and
- ensure that funds are available to recipients only if ethics approval is maintained for the duration of the activity requiring ethics review.
Research ethics applications are created and submitted electronically by the researcher using the Alberta Research Information Services (ARISE) system. Data from this system feeds to other campus units for approval as required, and to RSO, which manages funded research using the Grants 3.0 system. The Research Services Office is required to verify that the appropriate certification approvals are in place prior to release of funding (e.g. human, animal, biohazards, and stem cells). This serves to enforce ethics compliance.
Researchers who require ACUC or REB approval but are not ready to submit a fully detailed ethics application may apply for a Release of Funds.