Welcome to Human Ethics

About

• Rationale
• Terms of Reference
• Legislation
• Links

Human Ethics Committee

• About
• Applying
• Membership
• Contacts

Educational Research Human Ethics Committee

• About
• Applying
• Membership
• Contacts

Important Information

Please note that the University of Canterbury has two Human Ethics Committees for either research or teaching and learning proposals involving human participants.

When making an application to either of the Human Ethics Committees please consider the following to assist you in determining which form to complete and which Committee to send your application to for review and approval.

Human Ethics Committee (HEC)
The HEC reviews all proposals that are conducted within the University or outside of the University that do not involve an educational setting for either research or teaching and learning as covered by the ERHEC below. The HEC reviews research proposals from all colleges and research units within the university except for those covered by the ERHEC.

For most College of Education research:
Educational Research Human Ethics Committee (ERHEC)
Apply to the Educational Research Human Ethics Committee (ERHEC) if your research is conducted in early childhood centres, primary and secondary schools and in tertiary institutes as part of pre-service and in-service teacher education and professional development or tertiary level professional practice. Some examples of research applications that would be considered by ERHEC include investigating teaching and learning in curriculum areas in primary and secondary settings; describing how early childhood educators use assessment to inform their practices; how schools communicate assessment information to students and their families and whanau.

If you are unsure about which committee you should apply to, please contact one of the committee Chairs to discuss your project and application.  Please note that if the incorrect forms are submitted, you will be asked to resubmit your application on the correct form.

All applications to the Upper South Health and Disability Ethics Committee also require a separate application to the appropriate University of Canterbury Human Ethics Committee.

In either case please read the Human Ethics Policy (HEC) or ERHEC Principles and Guidelines to assist you in determining which application process you should follow for each Committee.
See the HEC apply page or the ERHEC apply page for details.