Instructions to Applicants
Log on to UWIScholar via https://UWIScholar.sta.uwi.edu/. (The St Augustine Campus is the host for the UWIScholar and Research Ethics Electronic Application system for all of The UWI.) Please follow the steps using your Open Campus email address.
- Students: Using your UWI assigned email address, register for your UWI Scholar Account by following the steps outlined in the video found at the link provided here. Please note that the registration process may take up to 24 hours for processing;
- Staff: Enter staff email address as username and click "forgot password" to set your password.
- Select and complete the form titled: Application for Ethical Approval - OC.
- Click the following link- Applicant Manual for detailed information.
Please note: Applications should be submitted using Principal Investigator UWIScholar profiles. If the Investigator is a student, a letter from the research supervisor indicating endorsement of the research proposal should be uploaded to the application as a supporting document.
Procedure for Review
- After submission of applications an initial review will be conducted to determine the category of review: Full, Expedited, Exemption and Waiver
- Exemptions(Human Subject) and Waivers (Non-Human Subject Research)
- These applications will be processed as submitted (daily) - average processing time is 1 week
- See The UWI Policy on Research Ethics document for more information on applications that meet criteria for Exemption
- Please note that for applications that may meet the criteria for Waiver of Review impact on human subjects, animals and the environment will be considered and may require the application to receive more detailed review by the Committee.
- All applications are processed as submitted. An initial review is done to ensure that all supporting documents are uploaded to the application and all required sections are completed. The average processing time for the initial review is 1 week
- After the initial review stage is completed and the applicant has satisfied all the requirements for a complete application, the application is categorized and forwarded to Member/Committee Review. Depending on the nature of the research, this stage could take 1-2 weeks for an expedited review and 2-4 weeks for a Full Committee Review.
- Revised and resubmitted applications are treated as expedited applications with an average processing time of 1 week, unless Full Committee Review is required, in which case the 2-4 weeks processing time will apply.
- Student Researchers should submit their applications at least 6 weeks prior to their intended data collection start date and Staff, Faculty Members and External Applicants should submit their applications at least 2 months prior to their intended data collection start date.
- Please note that the Committee does not process applications between semesters. Applications should be submitted at least 2 weeks before the end of each semester. Any applications submitted after the 2-week deadline will be processed at the beginning of the next semester.
Conducting Research at The UWI
All applicants who use The UWI as a Research Site, i.e. will interview staff, students or collect secondary institutional data, must receive permission from the Office of the Campus Registrar after receiving research ethics approval but before data collection begins.
External researchers are persons who are not staff or students of The UWI and who propose to use The UWI as a Research Site (to interview staff, students or access institutional data.) External researchers are required to receive research ethics approval before proceeding to collect data.
Please note that The Committee does not grant retroactive approval as stated in The UWI Policy on Research Ethics document.
Committee Meeting Dates
The Global Campus Research Ethics Committee reviews applications as they are submitted. Please refer to the section on Procedure for Review.
