Research & Knowledge Exchange Ethics

All UAL Creative Computing Institute (CCI) members (including staff, post-graduate research, and taught students) who are involved in research or knowledge exchange activities must check whether their research requires ethical procedure before conducting their research.

The information contained here is maintained by the CCI College Research Ethics Sub-Committee (CRESC) on behalf of the UAL Research & Knowledge Exchange Ethics Sub-Committee (RKEESC).

Your first port of call for all ethical guidance is UAL Research Ethics canvas page here.

Use the sub-pages below to find specific procedures depending on whether you are staff, PhD students or conducting research as part of your taught course.

For general enquiries check #research-ethics channel on Slack or email (cci-cresc@arts.ac.uk).

Do I need to apply for ethics approval?
Staff Ethics Procedures
PhD Student Ethics Procedures
Taught Course Ethics Procedures (aka Educational Ethics)

Do I need to apply for ethics approval?

If the research involves any of the following elements then the research is likely to have an ethical dimension for which approval must be obtained:

Involvement of other participants - actively or passively: including persons acting in a professional capacity, members of the public, children and others who are not able to give informed consent,
Research collaboration with external parties,
The involvement of animals,
The use of human tissue or biological matter,
Accessing and/or storing and/or disseminating material which may be regarded as unlawful, including promoting or endorsing terrorist acts related to the Prevent Statutory Duty,
Potential adverse impacts on the environment,
Health and safety risks beyond those experienced in everyday life including to the researcher(s).

Further definitions/explanations are available here: https://canvas.arts.ac.uk/sites/explore/SitePage/97782/research-ethics. See 'Guidance on Research Ethics (PDF)'

Follow the drop-down instructions below for how to apply.

Staff Ethics Procedures

If you are CCI staff and wish to start a new research or KE project you must apply for ethical approval before you begin your research. If you are unsure if you require ethical approval please consult the guidance here or send a brief description to CCI CRESC (cci-cresc@arts.ac.uk).

Ethics applications to CRESC can be made at any time but please note that you should allow 2-3 months for a decision.

To Apply: Complete the staff research ethics approval form here and email it to cci-cresc@arts.ac.uk. Remember to include information sheet and consent forms with your application.

The Process:

Your application will be given a CRESC reference number. Please use this reference number in all correspondence.
Your application will be reviewed by two members of the CRESC committee.
The reviewers will assess the level of risk your project involves.

Minimal risks are those that anyone involved in the research may encounter in everyday life. Applications at or below minimal risk can be entirely approved by CRESC.
Above minimal risk projects are those that involve any risks above those encountered in everyday life or involve participants who cannot give informed consent (e.g. due to being a minor). See risk definitions in section 6 here. Projects with above minimal risk will initially be reviewed by CRESC but then sent to the UAL RKEESC for final approval. Please allow more time for such approvals.

Reviewers may require amendments to your application. Please make amendements as quickly as possible to aid the process.
On approval you will be emailed a certificate with your approval number. Please refer to this approval number and the 'Creative Computing Institute College Research Ethics Sub-Committee' in all future declarations about your project ethics.
If there are changes to the way the intended project is carried out, please let us know by filling in a Notice of Ammendment. Substantial amendments may require a new ethics application, non-substantial amendments can be approved by Chair’s action. Further information can be found here.

Any questions about the process should be directed to cci-cresc@arts.ac.uk or #staff-ethics on Slack.

PhD Student Ethics Procedures

If you are a CCI PhD student and wish to start a new research or KE project you must apply for ethical approval before you begin your research. If you are unsure if you require ethical approval please consult the guidance here or send a brief description to CCI CRESC (cci-cresc@arts.ac.uk).

As a UAL PhD student you are required to apply for research ethics via the UAL Doctoral School. Please refer to your PhD handbook for guidance and the ethics application forms.

To Apply: Email your completed 'Post-Registration Research Ethics Approval Form' to researchdegrees@arts.ac.uk. Remember to include information sheet and consent forms with your application./b>.

The Process:

Your application will be forwarded from the Doctoral School to CRESC for review and given a reference number. Please use this reference number in all correspondence.
Your application will be reviewed by two members of the CRESC committee.
The reviewers will assess the level of risk your project involves.

Minimal risks are those that anyone involved in the research may encounter in everyday life. Applications at or below minimal risk can be entirely approved by CRESC.
Above minimal risk projects are those that involve any risks above those encountered in everyday life or involve participants who cannot give informed consent (e.g. due to being a minor). See risk definitions in section 6 here. Projects with above minimal risk will initially be reviewed by CRESC but then sent to the UAL RKEESC for final approval. Please allow more time for such approvals.

Reviewers may require amendments to your application. Please make amendements as quickly as possible to aid the process.
On approval, the UAL Doctoral School will be informed and you will be emailed a certificate with your approval number. Please refer to this approval number and the 'Creative Computing Institute College Research Ethics Sub-Committee' in all future declarations about your project ethics.
If there are changes to the way the intended project is carried out, please let us know by filling in a Notice of Ammendment. Substantial amendments may require a new ethics application, non-substantial amendments can be approved by Chair’s action. Further information can be found here.

Any questions about the process for PhD students should be directed to researchdegrees@arts.ac.uk or #research-ethics on Slack.

Taught Course Ethics Procedures (aka Educational Ethics)

All students at CCI are required to adhere to the UAL ethical policies and procedures when conducting research.

Undergraduate: Details are available in your programme handbook. If required, the ethical approval process will managed by your course leaders.

Postgraduate Taught Students (e.g. MSc): Details of the ethical procedures for your degree are available in your programme handbook. For all projects on taught postgraduate programmes, students (with their project supervisor's help) must complete the pre-screen ethics checklist before any data gathering begins.

The ethics pre-screen checklist must be completed by 20th June 2025 for all courses (12- and 15-month).

Your ethics pre-screen checklist can be completed via this link--> ethics pre-screen checklist

Does my project require ethical approval?

All Masters projects must complete the pre-screen ethics checklist above. The checklist will help your Course Leader and the CCI College Research Ethics Sub-Committee (CRESC) identify if you need to apply for full ethics by walking you through the considerations below.

If the research contains any of the following elements then it’s likely to have an ethical dimension for which approval must be obtained:

Involvement of other participants actively or passively, including persons acting in a professional capacity, members of the public, children and others who are not able to give informed consent
Research collaboration with external parties, e.g. companies
The involvement of animals
The use of human tissue
Potential adverse impacts on the environment
Health and safety risks beyond those experienced in everyday life including to the researcher(s).

The most common scenario is human data such as gathered from experiment participants, users for an evaluation or human data either gathered as part of the project (known as primary data gathering) or existing human data used during your project (known as secondary data analysis, e.g. a database of social media posts). Definitions and clarifications of the activities above can be found here.

If your project involves any of the above activities you must apply for ethical approval before starting your project. The first step for this is to complete the ethics pre-screen checklist above.

If the pre-screen informs you that ethical approval is required you should complete the application form and Participant Information & Consent Form with your supervisor. Before completing the application form please read through the information on 'Minimising Risk' below. Once you are happy that your research design does all it can to minimise unneccesary risk you should email it to cci-cresc@arts.ac.uk with the subject line: MSc project ethics application.

Deadline for the full ethics application is 27th June 2025.

Minimising Risk

All research must minimise the risk involved as much as possible with the majority of student projects being minimal risk or below. If your project is above minimal risk your application will be reviewed by the UAL educational ethics sub-committee which may require more time.

Minimal risk is defined as a risk no greater than risks encountered in everyday life to anyone involved in the research, or any others affected by it directly or indirectly, that is reasonably foreseeable.

Examples of projects above minimal risk to conduct include:

Will the project involve vulnerable participants such as young, disable people, elderly, people with declared mental health issues, prisoners, people in health or social care setting. Those with learning difficulties or cognitive impairment either contacted directly or via gatekeeper (either through professional- i.e., a caregiver, individual – i.e., relative or guardian or organisation – i.e., charities or care provider etc.)?
Research involving access to records of personal or confidential information concerning identifiable individuals
Research involving the participation or observation of animals
Research involving accessing and/or storing and/or disseminating material which may be regarded as unlawful, including promoting or endorsing terrorist acts
Research involving sensitive topics such as: Sexual, political or illegal behaviour; Experience of violence, abuse, exploitation, racist or sexist behaviour; Mental health and/or treatment; Physical health and/or treatment
Research involving interaction with individuals or communities where different cultural perceptions of ethics might result in misunderstandings
Research involving deception, or which is conducted without participants’ full and informed consent at the time the study is carried out
Research that might induce psychological stress, anxiety or humiliation or cause more than minimal pain under any reasonably foreseeable circumstances
Research involving intrusive interventions, including vigorous physical exercise, which participants would not normally experience or undergo in the course of their everyday life
Research which might cause participants to reveal information which causes concern to them either at that time or later
Research involving human tissue

Full definitions and guidance can be found in section 6 here.

Can I change my research once pre-screened or approved?

Yes. If there are changes to the way the intended project is carried out, please let us know by filling in a Notice of Ammendment. Substantial amendments may require a new ethics application, non-substantial amendments can be approved by Chair’s action. Further information can be found here.

Please contact cci-cresc@arts.ac.uk or #research-ethics on Slack with any questions.